A collection of cool underwater videos from around the world and pictures mostly from New Zealand
The Transparent Kingdom: Finding Cornwall’s Summer Jellyfish
From the shores of Falmouth, the summer sea looks like a vast, peaceful mirror. But if you stand on the shoreline, wait for the right tide, and then slip ben…
From the shores of Falmouth, the summer sea looks like a vast, peaceful mirror. But if you stand on the shoreline, wait for the right tide, and then slip beneath that green-blue surface, you enter a completely different world. For just a few fleeting months each year, a beautiful, fragile, and mesmerizing “transparent kingdom” drifts right into our shallow Cornish bays.
In this film, I’m taking you on a journey off the shore and out into the open blue to seek out the ocean’s most delicate, drifting wanderers. For me, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of leaving the noise of the busy beaches behind and floating in the quiet suspension of the bay, waiting for the shadows to appear. We begin by swimming amongst the moon jellyfish, watching their clear, rhythmic bells pulse against the sunlight, before we search the deeper water for the electric blue jellyfish. I’ve always been fascinated by the mysteries of our changing coast, and on this dive, we investigate why some of these blue jellies are displaying bright-yellow colour variations.
As we drift further out, we discover the dramatic side of this quiet jungle, including some of the true jellyfish’ relatives, such as the delicate northern comb jelly and it’s predator the melon comb jellyfish, with their shimming disco like ‘lights’, and the top predator the crystal jelly. Then, as mid summer warmth settles over Cornwall, we swim alongside the true giants of the bay: the magnificent compass jellyfish. Searching through the drift, we even find rare, ghostly-white individuals and zoom in close to witness tiny, juvenile fish seeking a safe sanctuary, swimming unharmed inside a deadly curtain of stinging tentacles.
If you enjoy stepping away into the quiet places of the ocean and discovering the delicate details of our marine world, please consider subscribing to follow the journey.
🌊 Follow my daily coastal updates on Instagram: @StevensUnderwater 🌐 Explore my full portfolio, blog u0026 gear guides: https://www.wildlifevision.com 📷 GEAR USED: Filmed mostly on a DJI Osmo Action 6 with an AOI wide angle conversion lens for the wide-angle and an AOI close up lens for macro underwater footage, and a DJI Pocket 4 for the topside summer scenes. Some shots on an iPhone 17 Pro in DiveVolk housing.
— TIMESTAMPS — 0:00 – Mysterious summer visitors 0:25 – Sunrise search for jellyfish 2:45 – First of the small compass jellyfish 3:50 – Blue jellyfish hunting 4:40 – Battle of the comb and crystal jellyfish 6:30 – Searching for the giant compass jellyfish at first light 8:25 – Ghostly jellyfish and fish using tentacles for safety
The Transparent Kingdom: Finding Cornwall’s Summer Jellyfish
From the shores of Falmouth, the summer sea looks like a vast, peaceful mirror. But if you stand on the shoreline, wait for the right tide, and then slip ben…
Description
From the shores of Falmouth, the summer sea looks like a vast, peaceful mirror. But if you stand on the shoreline, wait for the right tide, and then slip beneath that green-blue surface, you enter a completely different world. For just a few fleeting months each year, a beautiful, fragile, and mesmerizing “transparent kingdom” drifts right into our shallow Cornish bays.
In this film, I’m taking you on a journey off the shore and out into the open blue to seek out the ocean’s most delicate, drifting wanderers.
For me, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of leaving the noise of the busy beaches behind and floating in the quiet suspension of the bay, waiting for the shadows to appear. We begin by swimming amongst the moon jellyfish, watching their clear, rhythmic bells pulse against the sunlight, before we search the deeper water for the electric blue jellyfish. I’ve always been fascinated by the mysteries of our changing coast, and on this dive, we investigate why some of these blue jellies are displaying bright-yellow colour variations.
As we drift further out, we discover the dramatic side of this quiet jungle, including some of the true jellyfish’ relatives, such as the delicate northern comb jelly and it’s predator the melon comb jellyfish, with their shimming disco like ‘lights’, and the top predator the crystal jelly. Then, as mid summer warmth settles over Cornwall, we swim alongside the true giants of the bay: the magnificent compass jellyfish. Searching through the drift, we even find rare, ghostly-white individuals and zoom in close to witness tiny, juvenile fish seeking a safe sanctuary, swimming unharmed inside a deadly curtain of stinging tentacles.
If you enjoy stepping away into the quiet places of the ocean and discovering the delicate details of our marine world, please consider subscribing to follow the journey.
🌊 Follow my daily coastal updates on Instagram: @StevensUnderwater
🌐 Explore my full portfolio, blog u0026 gear guides: https://www.wildlifevision.com
📷 GEAR USED: Filmed mostly on a DJI Osmo Action 6 with an AOI wide angle conversion lens for the wide-angle and an AOI close up lens for macro underwater footage, and a DJI Pocket 4 for the topside summer scenes. Some shots on an iPhone 17 Pro in DiveVolk housing.
— TIMESTAMPS —
0:00 – Mysterious summer visitors
0:25 – Sunrise search for jellyfish
2:45 – First of the small compass jellyfish
3:50 – Blue jellyfish hunting
4:40 – Battle of the comb and crystal jellyfish
6:30 – Searching for the giant compass jellyfish at first light
8:25 – Ghostly jellyfish and fish using tentacles for safety
#Jellyfish #Cornwall #MarineBiology #BritishWildlife #DivingUK #cornwallcoast #Falmouth #UnderwaterFilming #CornishCoast #WildlifeFilmmaking
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