2014

The ghostly moon jelly travels across the open sea. A moon jelly isn’t just a passive drifter – it can swim on its own too. It gently pulses to move within the currents, traveling up and down and back and forth to find food. These alien-looking creatures are named for their translucent, moonlike circular bells. Instead of long, trailing tentacles, moon jellies have a short, fine fringe (cilia) that sweeps food toward the mucous layer on the edges of the bells. Prey is stored in pouches until the oral arms pick it up and begin to digest it. The coloration of a moon jelly often changes depending on its diet. If the jelly feeds extensively on crustaceans, it turns pink or lavender. An orange tint hints that a jelly’s been feeding on brine shrimp. Scientists have studied the life cycle of this jelly extensively. They know the adult male moon jelly releases strands of sperm, which are ingested by female moon jellies. After fertilization, larvae settle on or near the seafloor and grow into polyps. Polyps alternate between feeding and reproductive stages for up to 25 years. In the reproductive phase, polyps launch buds of cloned juveniles, known as ephyrae, which grow into adult medusae.

The purple-striped jelly is a species of jellyfish that exists primarily off the coast of California in Monterey Bay. The bell (body) of the jellyfish is up to 70 cm (27.6 inches or 2.3 feet) in diameter, typically with a radial pattern of stripes. The tentacles vary with the age of the individual, consisting typically of eight marginal long dark arms, and four central frilly oral arms. It is closely studied by scientists due to not much being known about their eating habits. When it is extremely young, it has a pinkish color and its tentacles are long and dark maroon. At the adult stage the dark maroon color of the tentacles starts to fade and the purple appears as stripes on the bell. At a young age the adults' four frilly oral arms will become longer. When the jellyfish starts to get older the tentacles thicken and the purple stripes start to darken and the tentacles start to look pale, its oral arms like to disappear. They are known to feed on a variety of organisms including zooplankton, including copepods, larval fish, ctenophores, salps, other jellies, and fish eggs. When the prey touches a marginal tentacle of the jelly, stingers are immediately discharged to paralyze prey and marginal tentacle bends inward to the nearest oral arm. The oral arm is used to transport prey to the gastrovascular cavity and to catch motionless prey. The sting of this jellyfish is extremely painful to humans but is rare.

I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopus’s garden in the shade. He’d let us in, knows where we’ve been, in his octopus’s garden in the shade. I’d ask my friends to come and see an octopus’s garden with me. I’d like to be, under the sea, in an octopus’s garden in the shade. We would be warm, below the storm, in our little hideaway beneath the waves. Resting our head, on the sea bed, in an octopus’s garden near a cave. We would sing, and dance around, because we know we can’t be found. I’d like to be under the sea in an octopus’s garden in the shade. We would shout, and swim about, the coral that lies beneath the waves ... Oh what joy, for every girl and boy, knowing they’re happy and they're safe ... - Ringo Starr

Enteroctopus dofleini, also known as the giant Pacific octopus or North Pacific giant octopus, is a large marine cephalopod belonging to the phylum Mollusca, and genus Enteroctopus. Its spatial distribution includes the coastal North Pacific, along California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Russia, northern Japan and Korea. It can be found from the intertidal zone down to depths of 2,000 m (6,600 ft), and is best adapted to cold, oxygen-rich water. It is arguably the largest octopus species, based on a scientific record of a 71 kg (156 lb) individual weighed live. The alternative contender is the seven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus) based on a 61 kg (134 lb) carcass estimated to have a live mass of 75 kg (165 lb). However, a number of questionable size records would suggest E. dofleini is the largest of all octopus species by a considerable margin. E. dofleini commonly prey upon shrimp, crabs, scallops, abalone, clams, lobsters and fish. Food is procured with its suckers and then bitten using its tough "beak" of chitin. They have also been observed to catch spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) up to four feet in length while in captivity. Additionally, consumed carcasses of this same shark species have been found in giant Pacific octopus middens in the wild, providing strong evidence of these octopuses preying on small sharks in their natural habitat. Octopuses are ranked as the most intelligent invertebrates. In the third century CE, Roman natural historian Claudius Aelianus wrote: "Mischief and craft are plainly seen to be the characteristics of this creature." Giant Pacific octopuses are commonly kept on display at aquariums due to their size and interesting physiology, and have demonstrated the ability to recognize humans that they frequently come in contact with. These responses include jetting water, changing body texture, and other behaviors that are consistently demonstrated to specific individuals. They have the ability to solve simple puzzles, open childproof bottles and use "tools". The octopus brain has folded lobes (a distinct characteristic of complexity), visual and tactile memory centers. They have about 300 million neurons. They have been known to open tank valves, disassemble expensive equipment and generally wreak havoc in labs and aquariums. Some researchers even claim that they are capable of motor play and having personalities. Some claim that octopuses are psychic, as Paul was made famous by predicting all seven winning teams in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, although this is not scientifically supported.

Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The last cannery closed in 1973. The street name, formerly a nickname for Ocean View Avenue, became official in January 1958 to honor John Steinbeck and his well-known novel Cannery Row. In the novel’s opening sentence, Steinbeck described the street as "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." Today the area offshore from Cannery Row is the Edward F. Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area (part of the larger Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary) and is home to a large resurgent population of California sea lions. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (opened 1984) is located at the north end of Cannery Row, at the former site of the major Hovden Cannery. Norwegian immigrant Knut Hovden founded Hovden Food Products Corporation which opened on July 7, 1916. By canning squid at the end of its life, Hovden Cannery managed to outlast its neighbors, finally closing its doors in 1973 when it became the last cannery on the row to close.

Opened on August 14, 1936 with "China Clipper", the 1,521-seat Art deco-style Del Mar Theatre has served the college town of Santa Cruz, California for more than 75 years. After years of struggling through dollar nights and intermittent attendance, the Del Mar Theatre was sold in 1999 and closed. After an extensive renovation and restoration, the Del Mar Theatre reopened in February of 2002 as a locally owned, independent, 3-screen theater featuring a 500 seat grand auditorium, tasty local snacks, organic popcorn (with real butter!) beer and wine and weekly Midnight Movies.