Photo Story: Adrift

Perfect Photography Conditions

I noticed this crown jelly floating along in the currents during what could only be described as a day with absolutely perfect conditions. The sun was out, water was clear, and there was no wind which left behind a glassy surface.

It is rare that the North Shore of Oahu looks like a lake. There can be a few weeks out of the entire year where the ocean is perfectly calm. Even on perfect days, conditions like in this photo may only last an hour or two. I have been lucky shooting photos in Hawaii where the visibility tends to be relatively good most days but this day was especially spectacular.

Noticing The Small Details

From a distance, it was easy to determine I was looking at a crown jellyfish. The species name is Cephea cephea. As I was taking photos of this jelly I also started to drift with the current and before I knew it I was close to 100m away from the boat by the time I was done shooting.

As I got closer I noticed the small details of the jelly. To my pleasant surprise, I noticed a hitchhiker curled up within the tentacles. This little fish wasn’t lunch but living in symbiosis with its host. It was quite difficult to get a frame in which you could see the little fish as it kept darting around to the opposite side of the jelly as if to hide from my camera.

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