Relaxing Footage of 29 Different Species of Gently Floating Jellyfish
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has published a 10-minute long relaxing video of 29 different species of jellyfish, from tiny delicate drifters to giant deep-sea behemoths.
As part of its Deep RelaxOcean series, the video features a wide breadth of different species of jellyfish and the video features time stamps in the description that share each jellyfish’s scientific name, observation depth, and location.
“There are many different kinds of gelatinous animals in the deep, but here we are featuring the umbrella-shaped animals that swim by pulsing a bell and usually have tentacles trailing behind their mellow flowing movement,” MBARI says.
“Most people underestimate the true diversity of this dazzling group of animals. Taxonomically, they are far more varied than a handful of the most common examples used to represent ‘jellyfish.'”
The name “jellyfish” is the informal name given to a wide number of gelatinous members of free-swimming marine animals that, for the most part, feature an umbrella-shaped bell and tentacles. Jellyfish use their bell for motion by pulsating it in various ways depending on their size.
One particular species of jellyfish has been called biologically immortal, as it is able to tur back time and revert to an earlier stage in its life cycle, therefore avoiding death as the result of aging.
MBARI’s Deep Sea Observations
While this video is only in Full HD resolution, MBARI recently expanded its capture technology to shoot in 4K. In January, the organization said that it had finished developing a new camera system for its underwater remote-operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts called the MxD SeaCam. Described as a major underea camera milestone, it allows MBARI researchers to dive nearly 2.5 miles under the sea and capture higher resolution footage and photos than ever before.
The first clip in the video above is of a giant phantom jellyfish, which actually was captured using this new camera system. That video and numerous photos can be seen in PetaPixel’s coverage from December.
While MBARI has been capable of shooting up to 4K resolution for the last several months, it has not yet published many videos at that resolution. The transition has been expectedly slow, as MBARI had been using the 1080i camera system that predated the new 4K system for the previous 20 years. There is plenty of time for high-resolution footage to come.
