Tag Archives: Cyanea lamarckii

Blue Jellyfish

Posted on by under cnidarians, fisheye, jellies, photography, wide angle

It is jellyfish season again and the Blue Jellyfish (Cyanea lamarckii) is probably the commonest species in Cornwall. Supposedly they sting but I have never noticed. Rather than taking a ‘true’ photo with an exposed background, I usually opt to not expose the background and light up the jellyfish with strobes. As these jellyfish are quite small (the ones I see are 5-12 cm in diameter; they can grow larger though) this is hard with the jelly up against the mini-dome (using a 8mm fisheye lens). The Microsoft Photo app let’s me get rid of the backscatter in the background but this does not always work as it tends to remove tentacles as well. (I cannot really see it on my computer screen but did notice on my phone: the bottom two pics have the background replaced but the top one hasn’t and so is a bit less clean.) Anyway, these animals are beautiful and quite otherworldly!

Happy 2024!

Posted on by under fisheye, jellies, Macro, mzuiko60mm

A happy 2024 to all followers and readers, may you enjoy the Ocean the coming year in one form or another! This is just a quick post as I have neglected this blog a bit (I have posted these photos on instagram last year though). It is a completely battered Aequorea forskalia at the end of a bloom in September. The images look a bit like oil paintings to me!

Earlier last year I also took some macro shots of another Aequorea species (perhaps A. victoria but these animals are not easy to identify in the field), below two shots showing the mouth (‘manubrium’).

On the same snorkel I also pointed my macrolens at blue jellyfish Cyanea lamarckii; it was fun to capture more detail, although ideally I’d like to capture detail AND the whole animal…. Maybe more luck with a new (or rather secondhand) wide angle lens this year – I cannot wait for the weather to improve and to go back into the water! More posts to follow soon I hope.

two great encounters

Posted on by under cnidarians, molluscs, snorkeling

Another snorkeling post. Last weekend off Gylly Beach and without a wet suit (sea water temperature close to 20C now!). Plenty of fish about, with my first snorkel sightings of Sea bass Dicentrachus labrax and small groups of Red mullet Mullus surmeletus. Much to my surpise I also spotted a Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis half hiding between dead seaweed drifting in the shallows. It was not particularly scared and stayed put while I swam around it but after a while it let out a squirt of ink and moved on. Of course this was just when I did not bring my lumix camera, so the next day I went back and luckily it was in exactly the same spot:P1040092It did not end there. I next spotted a beautiful Blue jellyfish Cyanea lamarckii gently pulsating through the water column. Inbetween the tentacles three tiny fish were hiding, most probably juvenile Horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus:P1040095