Brainless But Brilliant

Miles below sea level lie the homes of some of the most complex creatures on this Earth. According to NOAA Ocean Exploration, only 27.1% of the Ocean, which covers approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface, has been mapped, and even less has been truly explored by humans. We still have not even begun to understand the creatures living below us, and many believe that we can learn a lot from these animals. Jellyfish are one of these intriguing creatures. 

Sea Jellies have been around since long before humans and will likely be here long after us. Often, we hear Jellyfish and think of the horrific and sometimes poisonous sting. These brainless and spineless creatures were seen as weak for centuries, letting them go unstudied by many scientists. It wasn’t till the 1900s that interest in these magnificent creatures began, and not until 1970 did scientists realize how overlooked these seemingly weak creatures were.

Due to our increasing reliance on fossil fuels, the ocean has been absorbing more CO2 than ever before. This causes our sea waters to become more acidic, making life for most sea creatures harder than it once was. For example, the bleaching of our coral reefs which leads to many fish losing their homes. But, Sea Jellies seem to be some of the only sea creatures to benefit from these increasingly acidic waters. 

The first life was in the sea and that is where the majority of living beings call home. We are so small compared to the vast Ocean and it is time we learn from these beings who have lived for millions if not billions of years. Instead of harming our beautiful Earth, we must learn to celebrate it so that we can grow as a species. Just as Jellyfish were overlooked for centuries just because our fishing nets would shred them leading the Jellies to be seen as weak. We have overlooked the impact we've had on our planet as well.

What other creatures do you think go overlooked simply because we are afraid or automatically assume they are less than us ? Instead of ignoring or fearing animals that we do not understand, why don’t we try to understand them and learn from them ?

Thank you for reading :)

-AJ

2/4/25

References:

Berwald, J. (2017c). If You Dare. In Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and The Art of Growing a Backbone (pp. 3–17). essay, Riverhead Books.

How much of the ocean has been explored?. How much of the ocean has been explored? : Ocean Exploration Facts: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. (n.d.). https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/explored.html