Creature Feature

Friday Creature Feature:

Atolla jellyfish, Atolla wyvillei

Also has the nickname, alarm jellyfish because it has distinct bioluminescent displays when it is being nibbled on. These bright red jellies are found in the depths all over the world.

These displays end up attracting bigger predators to prey on what is feasting on the Atolla jellyfish.

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Coincidentally these jellyfish appeared in my work in the the piece " Discovery" and the prints shown that also precede the last panel Conception that features the giant squid.

After reading Edith Widder's book," Below the Edge of Darkness: a memoir of exploring light and life in the deep sea" I learned that she used the bioluminescent signature of the Atolla jellyfish to lure giant squid responsible for the very first video recordings of these giants in the depths. 🎉🐙

There are many more discoveries waiting in the depths and many, many women, like Edith leading the charge.

Swipe for 2 different pieces featuring the Atolla Jellyfish
2nd photo cred: @blueumbrellaarts

Both on view at Overture Galleries through April

Creature Feature

Friday Creature Feature:

Bristlemouths, Hatchetfish, Stoplight loosejaws, Dragon fish, Lantern fish ( and more)

What do they have in common?

-They all live in the Twilight zone of the ocean ( Mesopelagic zone) beyond the reach of light.

- Most are daily migrants to the epipelagic zone- meaning during the day they remain in the dark and at night they migrate toward the surface water to eat

- They make up the deep scattering layer of the ocean- For a long time sonar from ships misinterpreted the ocean floor being a lot more shallow because the sheer numbers fish and the air in the swim bladders reflecting the sonar.

- Mesopelagic fish make up the largest total biomass of fish in the ocean- they are the most abundant

- Their abundance and their daily vertical migration in the ocean acts as a bio pump removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The global fishing industry has overfished the ocean's surface now they are increasingly interested in capturing mesopelagic fish on a massive scale. These fish are unpalatable so they'll be made into fishmeal for supplements and as food for aquaculture.

HARD STOP..... so many questions!!

If we negate the effects of this carbon sink and add more carbon producing fish byproducts, doesn't that add exponential rates of carbon into the atmosphere?

Are we going to properly manage and regulate the catch of these fish or are we going to fish these deep sea fish to their full collapse as we have with most other fish? 🤔

We still know very little about any organisms living in the deep sea. We need to see them, love them and protect them.

View this printed collection of mesopelagic fish at the Overture Center for the Arts through April.

New deep sea creatures lit up

Just a little playful fun in the cold dark winter.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Finished installing the exhibition Reenter, Renew alongside the work of Brady Nichols⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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A grouping of Atolla jellyfish prints like this is part of the exhibition but the lighting isn't this dramatic.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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You can check it out next week or snoop around in my stories for some sneak peeks.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Extremely exhausted, but proud I made it through this week with multiple installations now up to view in public. 🎉

Image description: black and white image light shines from below onto a hand and an ethereal print of an Atolla jellyfish. There are dramatic shadows

Creature of the Deep

This is me, Sara Meredith.

This is a photo with 1 take

My face without makeup

This is coping

This is the room where I have spend 75% of
my time since mid December

We're all trying our best to find our way back to ourselves and each other during a time of continued darkness.

Perhaps that is why I find it nourishing to make woodcuts of creatures surviving in the darkest depths of the ocean.

While science tells us anthropomorphizing creatures is highly unscientific.. I think to truly understand the other life forms we coexist with is to understand ourselves.That requires seeing pieces of ourselves wherever we look

Many people call many of these creatures ugly, hideous or bizarre. When I hear that I can't help but think that it's because there is such a lack of understanding about the immense value of these creatures.

I look at them and I see myself, I see us. I see misunderstood creatures. I see them creating their own light under extreme pressure and darkness and they thrive! No matter what characteristics our evolution produces, the results are beautiful.

Swipe to see details of the Atolla jellyfish, Gulper eel, bristlemouths fish and hatchet fish all woodcuts in progress.

Do you see yourself in any of these beings?