My name is Alana and I am 8 years old. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is go to Lewes Beach and Cape Henlopen. The other day, the water was full of the most incredible creatures: jellyfish!
There were dozens of moon jellies and we could see what looked like glowing four-leaf clovers through their squishy bodies. There were also cool orange lion’s mane jellies with stringy tentacles.
The jellyfish were so pretty, but then I saw something that made me sad. An older girl was scooping them up with a shovel and burying them in the hot sand. I asked her why she was being mean to the jellies and she said she wanted them all to die.
It made me so sad I almost cried. After she left, I had an idea. I asked my dad to help me save them by scooping them out of the sand. We were careful to dig under them and not touch them directly. We then rushed to the bay and let them slide back into their home. We saved a lot of them! As I watched them float away, it felt so good to help them.
What is so funny is that when we go to an aquarium, everybody loves the jellyfish tanks. We stare in wonder and say “ooh!” and “aah!” while they dance up and down. But at the beach, some people just want them gone. I think they’re even more special in nature.
My dad told me we are seeing more of them because the ocean water is getting warmer and there are not as many leatherback sea turtles to eat them for lunch. I read in Ranger Rick that jellies are an important source of food for sea turtles, sunfish, dogfish and whale sharks. Sometimes these animals will eat plastic bags by mistake, because they look like jellyfish.
We should be kind and safe when jellies visit us. Please just watch where you’re swimming and float around them. Please don’t hurt them. If you see one on the sand, you can help it get back to the water, but only if you have a grown-up with you and do not touch them directly.
I hope we can all see jellyfish with wonder. Jellies are not monsters. They are amazing creatures and we are lucky to have them in Delaware!
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