I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful. - ThreadSky

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social • 665 days ago

I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful.

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Comments

chipman-lab.bsky.social•69 days ago

Any idea what the pigmentation is?

thelichenthrope.bsky.social•69 days ago

"The blue pigment of P. physalis is suggested to be a bilin-protein complex, and the green, purple, and pink coloration in other tissues are caused by unconjugated bile pigments, which are likely sourced from their diet" https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51842-1

nwnoggin.bsky.social•664 days ago

😍

tiffanyclay.dev•665 days ago

As someone who was stung very close to my lady parts as a child pls don’t get too far close up in an uncontrolled setting. In related news the first time I ever heard my mom cuss was when my brother tried to step on said colony of cnidarian zooids

vrai.bsky.social•665 days ago

this is wildly gorgeous. like i can't even tell you how much i love this. thank you for sharing

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•665 days ago

They’re you’re colors too!

vrai.bsky.social•665 days ago

💞🤍💙💜💞

alliewilkinson.bsky.social•665 days ago

These are STUNNING!

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•665 days ago

Aren’t they amazing?!

embryosophy.love•665 days ago

what?! i had no idea they were so gorgeous

vinkus.bsky.social•69 days ago

Such beautiful pictures!

cyaneyed.wtf•665 days ago

Oh hey! Glad you made it over here. : )

danirabaiotti.bsky.social•664 days ago

If dangerous why so lickable

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•664 days ago

Nature is a mystery

danirabaiotti.bsky.social•664 days ago

I just want to devour the forbidden strawberry laces. Is that so much to ask.

imhelendt.bsky.social•665 days ago

As an artist, I want to paint this. As someone who encountered them regularly while growing up, they strike fear in my heart.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•665 days ago

Haha same!

thisisnotavirus.zip•664 days ago

No too close, I hope.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•664 days ago

Always with some nice friendly glass between us :)

thisisnotavirus.zip•664 days ago

Good! I'm not sure I'd be able to hold back the intrusive thoughts... "go on, just a lil touch, they're so pretty".

trevorabranch.bsky.social•69 days ago

I remember dodging these in the waves in Cape Town pretty frequently, never thought of getting out of the water though... they can sting even after washed up but probably nothing as bad as being wrapped up by them in the water, I guess. The plough shells Bullia rhodostoma eat them like candy.

maile.bsky.social•665 days ago

The colors are stunning

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•665 days ago

I love them ❤️💜💛💙

fungirl.bsky.social•665 days ago

If Pinky Pie was a jellyfish 😍

diwaker.io•665 days ago

Gorgeous! Could you share a bit more about your process? How close did you get? How did you take these pictures? Where was this?

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•664 days ago

Sure. We scoop them up using a special technique my colleague developed so that we don’t get stung, then gently transfer them to aquaria for observation :)

joijetson.bsky.social•665 days ago

Nature’s colorway.

fuckyouiquit.bsky.social•665 days ago

Forbidden noods

zill.bsky.social•665 days ago

On the super danger DOOM noodle

hardin.bsky.social•665 days ago

I loved learning about those when I was a kid. They’re really wild — they’re technically multiple genetically identical animals that all form one creature together.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•664 days ago

Yes! So strange.