These are moon jellyfish. Over 1,500 of them occupy this 10,000 gallon aquarium at Steak 954, a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.[1]

Watching them is, at turns, calming, mesmerizing, and creepy, particularly if you stumble upon the tank, unwarned, on your way to a bathroom. They are beautiful, boneless, and weird.

Moon jellyfish live in coastal waters, survive on zooplankton, and can grow up to 24 inches in diameter.[2] Lacking the stinging power of their more fearsome cousins, their sting may be more uncomfortable than dangerous.[3]

The most interesting thing about moon jellyfish, however, and other jellyfish as well, is that they have two different modes of reproduction, both a sexual and an asexual phase. Dujring the sexual phase, the adult male release stands of sperm the female ingests.[4] Once fertilized, the females develop their larvae on arms that are in their mouth. These release and grow into polyps.[5]

During the asexual phase, polyps can create buds that grow into new polyps.[6] During this time they go through a process called “strobilation,” where they produce ephyrae, which release and grow into adult medusae.[7]

Crudely described, they are adult spacepods that drop baby capsules, that turn into carrots, which then break off at each ring, each becoming an adult spacepod.

It’s fascinating to watch.

What makes this interesting to me is that part of the moon jellyfish’s life requires teamwork, and part of it is independent. But the seasons are set in stone. The moon jelly doesn’t get to choose.

A lot of us struggle with this.

We want to choose the seasons in which we need other people. Sometimes, based on our wiring, or our trauma, we don’t want to deal with other people at all.

Most of us have an a la carte approach to life in general. We want to customize the entire experience. But choices have their own trajectory.

If I don’t manage my anger and choose to habitually explode on the people closest to me, I may have progressively fewer people close to me.

If I don’t confront my toxic habits, I may live in a chaos other people can’t join.

If I don’t grow up, the only people who may want to share my life are the equally immature.

Conversely, sometimes we surround ourselves with people when we need to be spending time alone: alone with God, alone with our thoughts, alone with some realities we need to confront, but won’t if we make every moment a party.

Digital life can feed this compulsion. We make sure we are never disconnected, never quiet, never alone.

But while we are making plans, or promises, jellyfish are making other jellyfish.

There are worse ways to spend your time.

There’s something to be said for knowing the season.

(Photo Credit: Mischa Field)

Footnotes

[1] “Steak 954 Jellyfish Tank,” Aquariumia, December 3, 2022, https://aquariumia.com/steak-9....

[2] Montereybayaquarium.org, accessed July 25, 2023, https://www.montereybayaquariu....

[3] Niki Browne, “Moon Jellyfish Sting: How Dangerous Is It and How to Treat It,” Ireland Before You Die, June 23, 2023, https://www.irelandbeforeyoudi....

[4] Op. Cit.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

Bibliography

Browne, Niki. “Moon Jellyfish Sting: How Dangerous Is It and How to Treat It.” Ireland Before You Die, June 23, 2023. https://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/moon-jellyfish-sting-how-dangerous-is-it-and-how-to-treat-it/.

“FAQ.” http://petjellyfish.co.uk, February 11, 2015. https://petjellyfish.co.uk/faq/.

Montereybayaquarium.org. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/moon-jelly.

“Steak 954 Jellyfish Tank.” Aquariumia, December 3, 2022. https://aquariumia.com/steak-954-jellyfish-tank/.