Limnomedusa

Wendy Cope, "From June to December: Summer Villanelle"

Rainbow Katydids by Arthur Anker and Bernard DuPont

this is so comforting. alive world i love you and your rivers every day

DEEP-SEA MINING MIGHT HARM RARE JELLYFISH

New research shows mining of the deep ocean floor for rare minerals could harm deep-sea jellyfish by stressing them out with sediment plumes, suggests a study of how resource harvesting might affect the helmet jellyfish (Periphylla periphylla), a luminescent red-colored cnidarian of the deep sea.

While deep sea animals provide important ecosystem functions including climate regulation, species-specific responses to stressors remain poorly understood. Researchers collected helmet jellyfish and exposed them to sediment at concentrations that could be churned up by mining. After a day, the animals had mucus covering much of their bodies, among other signs that they were really not well, being stressed and using a lot of energy to rid out of the floating sediment, which could be harmful over extended periods.

Suspended sediment plumes provoked the most acute and energetically costly response through the production of excess mucus. Microbial symbionts appeared to be unaffected by both stressors, with mucus production maintaining microbial community composition. If these responses are representative for other gelatinous fauna, an abundant component of pelagic ecosystems, the effects of planned exploitation of seafloor resources may impair deep pelagic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Photo by Bjørnar Solhaug

Reference (Open Access): Stenvers et al., 2023. Experimental mining plumes and ocean warming trigger stress in a deep pelagic jellyfish. Nature Communications

Commented on a Werner Herzog interview

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

July 19, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

fireflies honestly make me cry a little. out of gratitude and wonder. thank goodness we live in a world with bioluminescence. thank goodness we live in a world where it can fly.

“It is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”

— Robin Wall Kimmerer, from Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2020)