The secret life of jellyfish via @madison_wildlife 🙏
"Rhizastoma octopus (pulmo), the barrel jellyfish 🤩 A Sunday well spent am I right!! These beautiful gelatinous plankters are one of the largest jellyfish species in British waters. I absolutely love these complex blobs and are so intrigued by their ability to ease their way through life here. Thanks to their awesome and many life history features that make them so successful! There’s one behaviour in particular that’s always fascinated me with jellyfish - foraging! Little is known about the foraging behaviour and corresponding movements of jellyfish overall, however, scientists right here at @swanscience have discovered some cool behaviours of this species. Once upon a time, folks thought that jellyfish aimlessly drifted around the ocean at a fixed depth, are passively hunting whilst they go and their movements are only associated with waves and tidal or diel cycles. Ohhhh no. These beauties right here are ACTIVE! They are moving up and down vertically in the water column in search of prey, dozens of times during the day - they are actively on the hunt for some grub!"