(ominous music)
- [Evonne] I think people are really drawn to jellyfish
because they are so different from us.
They're fascinated because it's an animal just like we are,
but it's an incredibly different animal
that is so simple and yet so complex
when you start to look more closely.
- See the Jellyfish over there?
- Look at that baby one!
- [Narrator] Thousands of visitors
to the Oregon Coast Aquarium,
marvel at the collection of sea jellies.
But few notice that above the tank on a catwalk,
is a woman working behind the scenes,
this is Evonne, keeper of the sea jellies.
- I've been called a lot of things here.
A jelly keeper, a jelly aquarist.
Also a "Jelly Mom".
- [Narrator] Sea jellies are perhaps
better known as jellyfish.
Their most famous feature of course,
is their stinging tentacles.
But from there they get even more unusual.
Jellyfish are not actually fish.
As invertebrates, they have no bones at all.
Or teeth, or eyes, or ears.
They don't even have a brain.
And they never sleep.
Sea jellies have been on this planet a long, long time,
more than 500 million years,
making them the oldest multi-organ animal on earth.
They have a network of nerves,
a large stomach in the center,
and the glowing shapes are their gonads for reproduction.
They're called jellies because their bodies are gelatinous,
but as much as 95% of their body is actually water.
(water shrills)
- We are not trained specifically for jellies
when we go through marine biology degrees in college.
So it was a whole new world to me.
And they are beautiful,
and at the same time they can be frustrating
from an animal care standpoint.
Jelly care is a lot of chemistry and physics.
- [Narrator] Evonne has earned the name "Jelly Mom",
not just because she's the caregiver of these jellies,
but actually for something more literal.
- [Evonne] One of the things that we do here at the aquarium
is breed jellyfish.
All jellies are going to look the same as adults,
unless they are reproducing.
When we see that a large moon jelly
is holding lavender clusters under the bell,
we know that that is a mature female.
There are thousands of planula or jellyfish larvae.
That is fantastic.
So when the adults have reproduced
and the larvae have settled out,
they form little polyps.
And eventually, when conditions are just right,
these little polyps will produce many, many young.
And we have a number of tanks in the back
that range from small, to medium, to large.
So we have graduation day periodically,
as the little ones are able to move
into larger and larger tanks.
Ultimately, coming out to the exhibit,
sometimes to rejoin their parents.
(water splashes against boat)
- [Narrator] A team from the Oregon Coast Aquarium
sets out from Newport Bay into the open ocean.
They make the special mission every couple of years
to gather jellies from the wild.
This helps the health and the genetic diversity
of Evonne's breeding population.
- Today we're looking for some moon jellies
and some sea nettles.
So we've come to a site where we've collected them before.
And we're looking closely on the surface
to see their silhouettes,
to see if we can find a spot
where they've aggregated with the currents.
- [Salley Compton] Oh, there's one.
- Oh, sea nettle.
Back there.
(water splash)
- [Narrator] Sea jellies are drifters,
carried by the ocean's currents.
And where the currents converge,
you'll find large groups of jellies.
A group of sea jellies is called a smack.
- [Evonne] When they want to feed,
they go higher in the water column.
However, if you are a fragile animal with not much pigment,
it's not good to be at the water surface
on a bright sunny day.
So as the sun rises and becomes brighter,
these animals will migrate deeper into the water column.
Early morning hours,
we might find them all at the surface,
and by high noon,
they could be 60, 70, or a hundred feet deep.
- [Narrator] The divers are using special nets
that can scoop up the jellies without hurting them.
It can also collect some of the seawater.
- [Diver] Coming in with three.
- [Narrator] The sea water is not just a transport
to jellies.
Floating in it are unseen gametes.
These are the sperm and eggs of the jellies,
which Evonne can use back in her lab.
- Is that okay?
- Yup.
- Okay, perfect.
- [Narrator] The crew returns with 18 Pacific sea nettles,
but before they can be put on display,
they must first be inspected for small creatures that came
with them.
[Evonne]You are gonna love the size of this crab.
(laughs)
[Evonne]Yeah, so that's a little crab
that just cruises around on the tentacles of the jelly.
And it's feasting on the things that are captured
on those tentacles,
but it's not necessarily eating the jelly
or causing any harm.
Just a hitchhiker.
- [Narrator] Also found on the jellies
are tiny creatures with large dark eyes.
These aren't just hitchhikers like the crabs,
but are parasites.
- [Salley Compton] Yeah, this one's got a lot.
- [Narrator] And they will feed on the Jelly's tissue.
[Evonne] Alright. I believe this animal is free and clear,
but if anybody's hiding in there,
we'll see it within the next week or two.
Oh, that looks great.
I never grow tired of that.
They will sit in this tank now for 30 days,
just for a quarantine period.
And now we will just continue good nutrition and monitoring
and take them forward to exhibit in a month.
And then the public will be able to walk into our gallery
and also be in awe of these animals.
(ominous music)
[Evonne]I really enjoy the work
and I don't know how to describe it,
but whether I'm cleaning a tank or feeding the jellies
or simply watching them
to see what the flows are doing in the tank,
I simply can't take my eyes off of them.
I've been doing this for over 13 years
and I would love to keep doing this
through the rest of my career.
And chances are after I retire,
I will probably set up a small jellyfish tank at home
(laughs) and take care of them then.