{"id":10323,"date":"2012-04-14T11:56:30","date_gmt":"2012-04-14T16:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=10323"},"modified":"2012-04-14T11:57:06","modified_gmt":"2012-04-14T16:57:06","slug":"lions-and-leviathans-the-sun-and-the-moon-in-buzzards-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=10323","title":{"rendered":"Lions and Leviathans, the Sun and the Moon, in Buzzards Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Lion’s Mane Jelly in Buzzards Bay Estuary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Saturday\u00c2\u00a0morning, April 14th,\u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal spotted its first lion’s mane jelly\u00c2\u00a0(Cyanea capilata<\/em>)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0of the season in Sippican Harbor off Buzzards Bay.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 While March presented a couple of early warm days, the weather since has been chilly on the South Coast.\u00c2\u00a0 But with today’s southwesterly breeze and 60 degree temperatures, the Sippican estuary has sprung to life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Juvenile Lion’s Mane Jelly in Sippican Harbor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Beyond the sheer beauty of these magnificent creatures and the joy they bring each spring when they\u00c2\u00a0appear in Massachusetts, lion’s manes presage another important arrival.\u00c2\u00a0 Lion’s manes (and other slurpy jellies) form the major food source for the great leviathans of\u00c2\u00a0today’s reptilian class.<\/p>\n

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Massive Female Leatherback Sea Turtle<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No, not dinosaurs; even with fictional tales of Jurassic Park, Tyrannosaurus rex<\/em> remains a creature of the past.\u00c2\u00a0 But we still have supersized leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea<\/em>) that tip the scales at up to one ton.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to assume such massive weight, these pelagic sea turtles roam the oceans in search of patches of jelly fish.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Open Wide!\u00c2\u00a0(Mouth of Leatherback Sea Turtle)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Cruising the great wide oceans, leatherbacks cross\u00c2\u00a0thousands of miles\u00c2\u00a0of emptiness until they discover another concentration of jellies.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, they are well designed to allow maximum consumption of prey when they are fortunate enough to find their preferred food source.\u00c2\u00a0 Note the cartilaginous, downward-pointing spines that line the throat and esophagus to ensure that it’s a one-way trip for any jelly unlucky enough to encounter a feeding leatherback … and they’re always feeding when jellies are in sight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sun and Moon (Jelly) in Buzzards Bay<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Today\u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal found not only\u00c2\u00a0a lion’s mane, but also the first moon jelly (Aurelia aurita<\/em>) of the season, caught in the reflection of the morning sun on Sippican Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 They, too, present a tasting treat for hungry leatherbacks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Female Leatherback Sea Turtle\u00c2\u00a0(Dermochelys coriacea)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With jelly fish floating through the Buzzards Bay estuary, there is little doubt these\u00c2\u00a0massive leviathans will soon arrive in coastal New England waters to partake in the feast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lion’s Mane Jelly in Buzzards Bay Estuary Saturday\u00c2\u00a0morning, April 14th,\u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal spotted its first lion’s mane jelly\u00c2\u00a0(Cyanea capilata)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0of the season in Sippican Harbor off Buzzards Bay.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 While March presented a couple of early warm days, the weather since has been chilly on the South Coast.\u00c2\u00a0 But with today’s southwesterly breeze and 60 degree temperatures, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[824,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10323"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10349,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions\/10349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}