The elusive freshwater jellyfish; SIGHTED!

[DiverTodd]

Hi gang,

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day here in Youngstown, OH. It was far too nice to stay inside, and I NEEDED to get wet, so I broke down and drove 30 mins to the nearest quarry that's set up for diving. It's a small, private quarry, owned by a farming family, who are nice enough to allow divers to play in it for $5. It's only 45' deep at it's deepest, with only a training platform for our local dive shop and a few other items sunk in it. I parked on the grass, slipped into my 3mm wetsuit, 5mm hood and weightbelt and grabbed my gear. Two scuba divers were just finishing up their diving for the day, and we chatted a bit, mostly about freediving (they were curious) and my excitement about my Intermediate course with PFI next month (oh boy oh boy oh boy). I then settled down on the shore to do a few breathing exercises and stretches while they left. Once relaxed, I pulled on my Sphera and Gara 3000 LDs, and swam out to the float that marked the training platform.

One of goals for the day was to break in my new el cheapo Dacor capillary depth gauge (I figured it was better than nothing, even though it's pretty moot now; my Suunto D3 freediving computer arrives this week!). I did a few nice, easy "no limits pushed" dives down to the bottom of the platform, hitting 20' and watching my gauge do it's job. I swam around the platform, enjoying the depth and silence in the slightly chilly, and VERY murky water. Visibility was horrible, only about 6' in any direction. Save for some very small fish around the shoreline, and a small 5" bluegill I saw by the platform, there was very little aquatic life to be seen. Or so I thought...

Soon, I was relaxing on the surface, doing a nice, slow breathe-up to prepare for my next dive, when it happened; a tiny, clear little alien being floated right into my field of vision, in front of my mask. Now, I had heard of the freshwater jellyfish that have been seen (and scientifically reported) in this quarry, but I'd never seen them! Well, here one was, bloobing it's way along in front of my face! A miniscule, transparent dome, not much bigger than my thumbnail, with a clear, clover leaf type pattern inside. Long, stringy fringe surrounded the edge of it's dome, which flowed in the water as it pulsed along. An oceanic creature, floating along here with me in a fresh water quarry in PA. So small, and so simple, yet I was totally captivated by this tiny life form. Soon, we were joined by another one, and I spent quite a few minutes just watching them, mesmerized. It's funny how, sometimes, even the smallest things can turn a dive in a place that's rather routine into something memorable. And, as usual after freediving, I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day, and all was right in my world.

Todd

[naiad]

Nice story. I didn't even know there were freshwater jellyfish!

I once found some freshwater clams in a pond, or at least they looked like clams. They were very small, the biggest was about 4mm and the smallest 1mm. They had two equal shells, round with smooth edges, and they were white like pearls.

[land shark]

yes there are freshwater clams too.
they are good eating out of good water. Thats why we protect them

[pelagicbeing]

i seem to remember on a documentary that palau or yap has a big fresh water lake with thousands of moon jellies in it...

[naiad]

Originally Posted by land shark

yes there are freshwater clams too.
they are good eating out of good water. Thats why we protect them

They must be big ones, the ones I saw were tiny, about 3mm average. I did a Google search and there are lots of different kinds.

Freshwater jellyfish are found in a few sites in the UK...
http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_a....php?aID=35312

[violaspearo]

I had an encounter with freshwater jellyfish a few years back in a quarry at the opposite end of PA. (north of Allentown). I was approaching the surface, and all of a sudden, there were small jellyfis all around me. I was so used to seeing them on ocean dives that it took a moment before the "wait a minute, what are you doing HERE" response kicked in. It was a sunny day with decent vis, and their insides looked like liquid mother-of-pearl!

[TNdiver]

There are also fresh water sponges. The only one i know of is green, and looks more like some type of algae than a sponge. During rough times, it produces little white "beads" that protect sponge tissue within and when conditions are more favorable they open back up and start to regrow. We cant forget fresh water shrimp either:P Also some what of a type of coral. They are non moving cnidarians (hyrozoans, or something like that, ill fix spelling later because im about to go somewhere) They dont really form a skeleton, and are more of a soft coral type, but usually too small to be noticed. Gotta love general zoology

[BatRay]

Great story, Todd. I just read about freshwater jellies recently, so it was neat to hear about your sighting.

There are lots of freshwater clams in the local river. I can't remember if they're edible, though. The water quality gets dodgy below the city drains

[land shark]

the jellies are in Wis. to