On Thursday, November 13, 2003 2:16 PM, Jeff Kell wrote:

> > A few minutes into the dive, I spotted a lone Jimble (a box jellyfish of
the
> > caribdea rastoni species) swimming strongly against the light current.
A
> > short while later we saw what looked like an underwater fog bank rolling
in
> > towards us!  It consisted of hundreds and hundreds of swarming Jimbles,
each
> > about 20+ centimetres in length from the top of the bell to the tips of
the
> > four tentacles.  We hovered above them for a while and then moved on.

> I presume those aren't the deadly ones?

Mate!  You presume correctly <bwg>  Otherwise I'd have been tip-toeing
across the surface of the water!  :-)

They still have a sting though, but not as deadly as its relative, the
chironex, ("Sea Wasp" - although the Jimbles are sometimes called Sea Wasps
and the other ones "Box Jellyfish"! )that's more usually limited to North
Queensland waters from about November through to March.  Those ones are said
to be the most venemous marine animal known!  :-)

>I will swim with and have fed
> sharks, rays, alligator gar, and all sorts of nasty-looking things but
> jellies give me the creeps :-)

I'm actually quite fascinated by them - particularly the Jimbles that really
are very attractive in their symmetry and vewry powerful swimmers.  The ones
that really amaze me, though, are the Lionsmane jellys.  They're huge and
usually only found in deep offshore waters, but they're like small villages
in terms of the small marine life that they attract.  :-)

(snip)
> Took some time before learning nasty jellies from harmless ones, but
> then we don't have any quite as nasty as the sea wasp of the Pacific.
> Generally I avoid anything that resembles a jellyfish (consider them to
> be my "Titan Triggerfish")  :-)

When you describe them like that, it's given me a better understanding of
how you feel about the little buggers!  :-)

> Well, Strike, enjoy your summer weather.  Our first "hard freeze" is
> supposed to move in overnight, 30F predicted (just under 0C).

I paid ten pounds to escape that sort of weather!  It's the best value for
money, I've ever had! :-)

Strike