Saturday, August 19, 2006

Notes from Newport...



Here are some of the notes and sketches that I made this past Wednesday at the Newport (KY) Aquarium.

Moon Jelly - 5-6"
(top left and right)

Umbrella Jelly - small - 2"
(lower left)

West Coast Sea Nettles - golden - 8"
(lower right)

Also at the Aquarium:

Colored Jelly (fast moving) - 4" - 8 heart shaped cauliflower looking things (moving mechanism - on underside).

Sea Nettles - long strings (20-30") - max 5" D. (most there were 3").

There were also polyps - which account for half of a jellyfish life.

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It was wonderful to watch the jellyfish move - next time I'll need to make a movie. About the time I got my camera adjusted for the light - it died for the day). This one of the sea nettles was not the look I was going for - but it does sort of show the movement.



At first sea nettle stuff hanging down looks like weird icky stuff - but when you start looking at it them closer (like I did when my camera ran out of battery and I started sketching) - it looks like lace - almost like a petticoat. And some of the tentacles have ribbons on them too - ruffley like.




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Sea Nettle Haiku

Tranparent bodies
Dangle petticoats and lace
Waltzing through oceans.

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The Newport Aquarium had classical music playing in the "Jellyfish Gallery" - which I thought made a nice effect.

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