Jelly fish

[Bait O' Eggs]

There were millions of jellyfish when halibut fishing out of newport. Here is a photo of a raft of them.



and here we are in middle of one of the many many rafts of jellyfish



Is this a seasonal migration or are there always this many jelly fish?

[ 05-12-2003, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

[Miss B Haven]

Woha there- looks like you could get out and walk. I've never seen that before. Kinda like those dang sunfish who aren't supposed to be really able to swim and go anywhere on purpose.
How do they end up in schools then? [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

Glad to see those posts about you killing the bite were not true. Who started that ugly rumor anyway. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Hey- you pull one of you homemade cedar plugs around yet to check the action?

[jet]

We saw the same thing on the beach at High tide on Newport over the weekend. At the highwater mark there were milions of these little buggers.... The whole area smelled like a seafood processing plant.

I think the are called Man O' War Jelley fish? Clear little sail on the top of them just floating on the surface of the water.

Jet~~

[Threemuch]

I have also heard them called half moon sailors. I have seen them many times in Northern CA, and I believe it is seasonal, happening this time of year.

[Pilar]

Yes, they have been pretty common offshore for the last month or so. A few weeks ago a purple sailor stuck to the deck on the bow of PILAR and would not come off. I named him 'Wilson'.

He is just a purple outline now.

[tailchaser]

Some friends of mine at ODFW said that when a west wind blows (like recently) it brings in these jellyfish from hundreds of miles out and close to shore. They also told me that when they're around it's a good time to find the glass balls on the beach because they're picked up from the same Japanese currents across the ocean.

tc

[Fishplay]

Copy.

There were floats everywhere. We sent our great finds home with WildHawg. Only one was glass though.

[Sensei-san]

I've heard them called "Sailors on the Wind". Hey... since they are native to NorCal, maybe they are a precursor to an early tuna season.....

[Mr. Fisherman]

Thanks for the link, it was interesting reading.
Sea Lion found a few plastic floats but no glass ones yet. I sure would like to find one and I always keep my eyes peeled for them. Maybe this will be the year....
It was very interesting to see the millions of these things coloring the sea.
There is always something interesting to see out on the big blue pond....

[Chum King]

These are known as the "purple sailor" or "By-the-wind sailor" or scientific name of Velella velella. You can often times find wind rows of these piled up on the beach. You can find some more information at Purple Sailor

[Mello-Yello]

They were thick down south too. We found a small amount of entertainment watching them hurl through the air with the bow splash. The first time I saw it, I thought I was peeling the letters off my boat.

:shocked:

[Bill Monroe]

I got photos of the jellyfish on the halibut opener the other day, but didn't associate them with all the plastic balls. Now it makes sense. Charter skippers said they've been finding lots of glass ones and I got to keep the 12-incher I spotted first on the way home...
thanks for chasing down the info...

[WP]

Another opportunity to be wrong that I didn't miss! I always thought they were a larval stage of jellyfish! They appear at the same time each year and sure looked like jellyfish! Live and learn...it just proves that the things we think we know are only true until we find out differently. Thanks for the information, great reading...and humbling.
WP

[Nofish]

Those jelly fish you are describing are actually called "by-the-wind sailors" and I guess are close relatives to the Portuguese man of war which is has a nasty sting. It would seem that the marine biology class I took so I could meet chicks has finally paid off. Here is a link if you want to learn more:
http://www.jellieszone.com/velella.htm

Cheers...Nofish