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Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish

Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish was completed on 3/1/2011. Translucent, or even semi-translucent animals can be tricky to render. You must suggest this, yet make it clear what the animal's form is. So, when I created this drawing, I made one version with water, and one without for the decal (see below.) The drawing is based on a photo by Ron Wolf.

Information about the Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish:

The Pacific Sea Nettle - also called the West Coast Nettle - is a free-floating scyphozoa native to the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean, specifically Oregon and California, although they can occasionally be found north and west of there. Like other jellyfish, Sea Nettles are carnivorous animals. They're able to catch their prey with long tentacles that hang down from the center of the bell. The toxins in their nematocysts are effective in paralyzing their prey, but it can also inflict a nasty sting to humans. It is believed their numbers are growing due to climate change, although little historical record is available to verify this.