NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2018. Download (mp4, 66.2 MB).
This jellyfish, in the genus Atolla, was spotted during a transect to explore the water column at 880 meters (2,887 feet) depth during the Windows to the Deep 2018: Exploration of the Southeast U.S. Continental Margin expedition. The transect at this depth and an earlier transect at 950 meters (3,117 feet) were designed to sample within and outside of an observed abrupt decrease in temperature and increase in oxygen. These thermocline/oxycline (950 and 880 meters) depths were accompanied by a layer of water with extremely high density of particulate matter (known as “marine snow”). The water column is the largest, yet least explored, habitat on Earth, so every opportunity to learn more about it expands our understanding of this important biome.