Author Topic: Weird Blue thing  (Read 3223 times)

noworrieshawaii

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Weird Blue thing
« on: February 29, 2008, 01:02:38 PM »
Any idea what it is? There were tons of them floating at Thousand Peaks this morning. If you touch them, they close up... Pretty tiny, maybe 1 inch biggest.


shapeshifter

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #1 on: February 29, 2008, 01:22:36 PM »
could be wrong but that looks like velella velella also called by-the-wind-sailor which are a stingerless relative of the jellyfish and not harmful.
whoever invented the hole... knew nothing.
...ooooO...................
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stoneaxe

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #2 on: February 29, 2008, 01:56:06 PM »
A hydromedusa of some kind? Not a velella. They have sails. Could be a polyp of a larger type. Not positive but from what I remember (Thanks Jacque... ;D ) its unusual to see them floating on the surface. Any better pictures of the central stucture?
« Last Edit: February 29, 2008, 01:57:53 PM by stoneaxe »
Bob

8-4 Vec, 9-0 SouthCounty, 9-8 Starboard, 10-4 Foote Triton, 10-6 C4, 12-6 Starboard, 14-0 Vec (babysitting the 18-0 Speedboard) Ke Nalu Molokai, Ke Nalu Maliko, Ke Nalu Wiki Ke Nalu Konihi

Honolii

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #3 on: February 29, 2008, 03:16:27 PM »
HOLY SMOKES!!!!
That's the invasive alien species Whatchamacallit from outer space!
Nah, LOL! Looks interesting and I've never seen it before.  Hope it's not toxic or anything. I wonder what made them show up, if they are form the deep, or windblown...

shapeshifter

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #4 on: February 29, 2008, 06:30:41 PM »
okay... maybe not.

how about porpita porpita also known as the blue button which is also harmless?


here's a picture of one being attact by an... alien.
« Last Edit: February 29, 2008, 06:54:47 PM by shapeshifter »
whoever invented the hole... knew nothing.
...ooooO...................
...(.......)......Ooooo....
....\.....(.......(.......).....
.....\.__)........)...../.....
...................(__./......

noworrieshawaii

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #5 on: February 29, 2008, 07:04:04 PM »
That totally looks like them... Never have seen them before today.

stoneaxe

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Re: Weird Blue thing
« Reply #6 on: February 29, 2008, 08:08:08 PM »
Very cool....much clearer picture....I've never seen them before either. The alien is a bracted sargassum nudibranch.

Sigh...my dreams of being a marine biologist were shattered many years ago when I was 15, after going through NAUI dive clases I found that I can't equalize...memorized the damn decompression tables for nothing. Got as deep as 15 ft on my 1st dive and thought my head was going to explode. Really sucked...I was bummed out for months, unconsolable...shit, actually a very shitty memory.

I always found jellies and nudibranches to be some of the most interesting creatures in the ocean. My favorite shows still to watch on TV are things like blue planet and such. I still have my 30 volume set of the Jacque Cousteau Underwater Encyclopedia my aunt gave me when I was 12.

Want to see some wild colorful creatures?
http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=nudibranch&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
« Last Edit: February 29, 2008, 08:18:53 PM by stoneaxe »
Bob

8-4 Vec, 9-0 SouthCounty, 9-8 Starboard, 10-4 Foote Triton, 10-6 C4, 12-6 Starboard, 14-0 Vec (babysitting the 18-0 Speedboard) Ke Nalu Molokai, Ke Nalu Maliko, Ke Nalu Wiki Ke Nalu Konihi

 


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