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Sea nettle invasion - Monterey Bay - July 2017

Our visit to Monterey was for the sole purpose of locating and photographing jellies. A massive “bloom” of Chrysaora fusescens, aka the sea nettle, or the brown nettle, had been widely reported in Monterey this week…we had to see this for ourselves. Our pal, Tony, had tipped us to a great location for Chrysaora: the boat launch ramp area inside Monterey Harbor, protected by the Coast Guard wharf. A very nice employee of one of the harbor businesses gave us permission to shoot down on the docks and to directly access the location. Shooting from the top deck was also good.

This “intel” proved to be spot-on and we found thousands of these jellies near the gangways to the boats. There were individuals ranging in size from 1 – 2 inches up to several feet in length. The pulsated and propelled themselves in all directions including up and down. There were lots of collisions between them, with no apparent harm or reaction.

Photography conditions were varied and challenging. In the end, the photographs of individual jellies were better than images of groups. (Group shots might best be done underwater). Nonetheless, it was a fantastic sight to see and well worth the trip!



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