Sailfin Jellyfish
The Velella or as we call them, the sailfin jellies begin their lives in the middle of the ocean, sometimes after a prevailing wind, it will wash up on the shore in the thousands, l saw this last year on Vancouver Island. We were hiking on the northwest coast of the island and there were many thousands of them washed up on the beaches. Read More….
Sea Anemones
Sea anemones are not plants, but predators that will attack and eat any small animal that strays within reach of their deadly tentacles. They come armed with tiny poisonous darts and powerful enzymes that can dissolve a small animal in just minutes. Read More….
Sea Blubber Jellyfish
The sea blubber (also known as the lion mane ) can have a bell that reaches up to a meter or more in size and its tentacles can be up to 9 meters long. You can find them from Alaska to California, and they can be seen in all parts of the Pacific Northwest, they prefer inshore coastal waters. Read More….
Moon Jellyfish
The moon jellies is very abundant in the Pacific Northwest and can also be found from Alaska to California. They are also known as water jellyfish and as the Aequorea Victoria Jellyfish. They can reach up to 12.5 cm across the bell and about 4 cm high. Read More….
Phylum cnidaria (Jellyfish) are invertebrates that are well known for their ability to sting, they have capsules in their tentacles that surround the mouth. We have around 300 different cnidaria living in the waters that surround Vancouver Island.
Many of these creatures are sessile, meaning that they attach themselves permanently at their base and do not move like the sea anemones, some can move about on a pedal disk, like a foot on a snail, and can travel great distances. Jellyfish swim and drift about with the tides and over time can move great distances too. They feed by stinging into submission their prey.
Some of our jellies here in the Island’s waters can cause great pain along with bad infections that can resist medical treatment for a long time, caution should be used around them, especially the sea blubber jellyfish. The one pictured here was about half a meter across the bell with some very long tentacles streaming out behind it.