In search of the beautiful crown jellyfish Periphylla periphylla on the west coast of Norway. I was invited along in search of this beautiful creature by one of the world's best nature photographers. My role was to be the boat driver and make it possible for him to be able to take his film clips for his project. In return, I got to do the same dives as him.
Blackwater dives is what it's called when you dive in the free water column and when you can't see the bottom and when it's so far to the bottom that you can't dive there. In addition, such dives are usually carried out from a boat and preferably far from land.
New pictures 15. july 2024 15:05
300 meters deep
The plan was a night dive in the middle of the fjord in the area, Lurefjord in Norway, where the jellyfish come to the surface in the dark to catch food. But there was some unfavorable weather and waves. There was also power and poor visibility. It is therefore important that the boat driver keeps his eyes open at all times and keeps a close eye on both bubbles and surroundings.
After loading all the equipment into the boat and driving where we were going, it was time to sit with our face over the reef and check if we saw jellyfish. And quite rightly so. Large numbers of jellyfish in the same place every time.
So then it was just a matter of getting into the equipment and jumping overboard. Did I write that it was 300 meters deep? Yes, then you must trust the boat operator and your own abilities as a diver. I was ready, had tested the camera, put on a wide-angle lens and adjusted the strobes the way I wanted them. Now all we had to do was "off we go".
Poor visibility and hundreds of jellyfish
Already in the first meter below, I spotted the jellyfishes. God, there were a lot of them. But there was poor visibility and a lot of particles and "stuff" in the sea. So I realized that there where small margins if I didn't want too much backscatter in the picture. And I shot pictures, lots of pictures. And also lots of bad pictures. Here it was all about working quickly, being precise with lights and strobes and diving with a itchy trigger finger. I probably snapped 300 pictures pr. dive. But there are incredibly small margins for getting good pictures without the milky background and all the small amphipods and particles in the water.
For those who dosnt know. Backscatter is when the flash light hits particles in the water, which then reflect the light back in to the the lens.
In projects > jellyfish > perifylla perifylla you will find more pictures as I upload them.
Cold and happy
We returned to shore about 4AM very cold and happy after doing 2 hours under water each. I got what I came for. Now I needed to check all the images and hope that at least some of them where usable.
Relevant information about the crown jellyfish Perifylla perifylla
Brief summary of information about Perifylla perifylla. I have collected and freely reproduced what I have found out so that you don't have to look any further.
Sorces for information
Sources are artsdatabanken.no , forsking.no , nrk.no and wikipedia.no .
Description
Habitat and distribution
Bioluminescence and photophobia
Size and weight
Tentacles and swimming patterns
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