12 replies to this topic

[Alex_Mustard]

Does anyone know what this is?
I photographed it at 30m (100ft) depth in Grand Cayman off the wall. It was about 2 inches across. All guesses welcome.
Alex

[Marjo]

Never seen anything like it at 100ft, but looks like some boater dropped their egg overboard whilst making breakfast omelette...

[echeng]

It's not an egg yolk jelly? Here's one I have:

[Giles]

I would love to go for that guess as well Eric, but i dont see any tenticles anywhere and it almost looks too perfect to be a jelly fish. Do we know where these Jelly's can be found?
And normally a lot bigger than 2 inches.
Am I just putting up a good arguement to say it is a baby Egg Yolk Jelly.

This is a good one .. I know when you were down Alex we did have a few Jellys come through on a cold front. I have never seen anything like that in Cayman, the weirdest I saw was a man o war washed up on the beach in south sound.

[james]

Coral larvae also have "oil droplets" inside the gamete which act as a flotation device. Not saying it's a larva but it's similar.

Cheers
James

[jong@seaotter.com]

Coral larvae also have "oil droplets" inside the gamete which act as a flotation device.  Not saying it's a larva but it's similar.

Cheers
James

That's be a huge larva!

Maybe it's some sort of salp?

-jong

[jong@seaotter.com]

Coral larvae also have "oil droplets" inside the gamete which act as a flotation device.  Not saying it's a larva but it's similar.

Cheers
James

That'd be a huge larva!

Maybe it's some sort of salp?

-jong

[Alex_Mustard]

Here is another clue to its origin!

[Alex_Mustard]

The egg idea came from a recent article in Rodales (and I think is used as a teaching aid in Advanced Open Water deep diving speciality) about playing underwater. The article said that if you open an egg at 30m (100ft) the pressure keeps the white and yolk of an egg together. I haven't tested what happens if you open at egg at the surface...

This is all part of the Zen Diving project that I am working on with writer Nick Hanna and Instructor Steve Schultz. Zen diving is about combining yoga, relaxation and diving. Going underwater to play and enjoy the sensation of the diving. A big part is trying new ideas, like running on the sand, or just sitting still for half a dive, playing with an aquadisc or cracking an egg at 30m! I'm not a zen diver! I'm just the photo monkey - there is a bit more about it on my website.

http://www.amustard....age=news&size=s
http://www.amustard....age=news&size=s

[Craig Ruaux]

Thanks, Alex, for reassuring me I am not insane.

The greyish stripe in the middle, running across the ovum (yolk) in to the albumen (white) is called a chalaze, and it is a distinctive part of the anatomy of an egg. That, in combination with the remnant air space down to the bottom right, had me convinced that it was indeed an egg. But I was totally unable to work out how it got to the depth you describe . I couldn't bring myself to believe that such a yummy package of protein would make it to that depth without being eaten en route. And it is pretty close to neutral, so why would it sink :?:

[laz217]

Uh oh! You did it now, Alex! I once decided to put together a story of how my dive buddy, Fritz, saved a baby (plastic) turtle from near death. It was all originally a prank Fritz was going to play out on me but it back-fired and I jokingly photographed the whole ordeal as it occured anyways, posted it on the web and apparently fooled quite a few divers (and a photo pro too! ).

Because of my prank, whenever I post a photograph of a real turtle I always get the inevitable reply, "Nice fake turtle, Laz!" I'm sure you'll be getting similar emails whenever you start posting some rare plankton.

I do like the whole Zen idea of diving and having fun. It's a must for me and my buddies on just about every dive. Many times we will unsuspectedly play out the whole trunkfish scene (reg out of mouth, blow water at the sand, stick nose in sand, etc.) or some other fish mimicry in order to make our buddies flood their masks from laughing so much. At other times there's nothing quite as relaxing and fun as getting perfectly neutral, sitting up, crossing your legs yogi style and letting a good current do all the work of pushing you across the reef. It's like watching the Muppets in 4D!

But of all the things I do, freediving brings me to a state of tranquility and enjoyment the most. I'm not refering to freediving to exaggerated depths -- it works in 5-10ft. Simply cruising in a slow, fluid manner along the ocean is probably the most relaxing thing I can do.

On some of the buoyed deep dives I do, I also like sit on the line and watch the other divers below me move along the reef. The aerial (waterial?) view from above is always relaxing and enjoyable. Of all things scuba, though, there was one time when the seas were 5-6ft, it began to rain hard and Fritz and I were in about 20 ft of water in the Keys. We hovered motionless above the sand and let the surge rock us back and forth. I think I must have dozed off a couple of times during the hour dive. The sound of the rain and the back-and-forth rocking made for a very relaxing dive. I highly recommend this but do tip the captain extra well for putting up with this.

[laz217]

I suppose your new species could be named Salpa SunnySideUpnidae

[Helge Suess]

Hi!

I think, it's a Pawlow Syndrome. Divers get crazy while rigging up, just by anticipating the load of nitrogen they expect, deep down, later on.
In some (not so rare) cases even thinking of a dive may cause some mental distortion (you're all only jealous, because the silent voices are talking to ME only!).
I always thought, that having fun is one of the main driving forces to get wet. I had my medical examination a few days ago and we were laughing all the time. The doctor said, that checking the mental state was deliberately excluded from the examination so people would have a chance to pass the tests.
I think, that diving puts you in a mental state close to meditation. The weightlessness adds to it, and I find myself having the strangest ideas during dives. The mind really runs wild and most of my crazy projects were "born" below the surface.