Kaila got hit by a jellyfish the other day. It left her with a nice little parting gift of a foot long welt. So today when we were walking the beach and she saw what she thought to be a jellyfish eating these little blue guys… well, she naturally wanted to intervene on their behalf.
But I was reminded of a saying… “Let me help you or you will drown said the monkey to the fish as he put him high in a tree.” I suggested that we put the scene in a bowl and just watch for awhile. We could always intervene if she was right. And… these little dudes promptly went after the jellies like nobodies business. Kaila cheered them on.
Curious, the kids looked em up. The jellyfish that you see here are the infamous Portuguese Man O’ War. And the little blue dudes are officially known as Glaucus Atlanticus… or the blue dragon nudibranch (who comes up with these names?). A type of sea slug that hunts the Man O’ War. But before you get too happy… let me tell you the rest of the story. Apparently this little guy is not only immune to jellyfish toxins… it stores them up to deliver it’s own much more painful and poisonous bite to it’s predators. Including the occasional human.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
And that concludes todays lesson on marine biology.