在太平洋中游泳的水母, 格雷罗, 墨西哥 Jellyfish swimming in the Pacific, Guerrero, Mexico (© Christian Vizl/TANDEM Stills + Motion)

在太平洋中游泳的水母, 格雷罗, 墨西哥 Jellyfish swimming in the Pacific, Guerrero, Mexico (© Christian Vizl/TANDEM Stills + Motion)

随波轻舞 Just jellin'

世界水母日

它们没有大脑、骨骼，甚至没有心脏，却已在地球海洋中游弋了五亿年。今天，世界水母日，这些摇曳生姿的奇妙生物终于迎来了属于它们的高光时刻——至少在海底世界如此。这一节日旨在推动保护水母栖息地，抵御污染、富营养化径流和海洋酸化等威胁。

别被它们名字里的“鱼”骗了：水母其实属于无脊椎动物门中的刺胞动物类，体内约95%是水。钟形躯体配上拖曳的触手，它们更像海洋中的漂泊者，而非深海健将。有些水母会发光，比如图中拍摄于墨西哥格雷罗外海的这一只；有些则带有毒刺；还有极少数，如“永生水母”，甚至能重置生命循环，重新开始。

水母是食物链中至关重要的环节，它们为海龟、太阳鱼和海鸟提供食物。其种群数量的突然激增也如同警报，提醒我们海洋因水温升高和过度捕捞而发生的变化。所以，今天让我们给予这些“无脑软体”应有的赞赏——它们比恐龙活得更久，精通漂流的艺术，并证明了有时候“没有脊梁”反而是一种力量。

World Jellyfish Day

They don't have brains, bones, or even hearts, yet jellyfish have pulsed through Earth's oceans for half a billion years. Today, on World Jellyfish Day, these wobbly wonders get their moment in the sun—or at least under the sea. The day promotes efforts to protect jellyfish habitats from threats like pollution, nutrient-rich runoff, and ocean acidification.

Don't be fooled by the 'fish' in their name: they belong to the invertebrate club called Cnidaria, and they're made up of about 95% water. With their bell-shaped bodies and trailing tentacles, they're more like ocean drifters than deep-sea athletes. Some glow like the one pictured here in the Pacific Ocean off Guerrero, Mexico, others pack stings, and a select few, like the 'immortal jellyfish,' can reset their life cycle and start again.

Jellyfish are vital links in the food chain, feeding turtles, sunfish, and seabirds. Their sudden population booms also act as alarms, signaling changes in the ocean caused by warming waters and overfishing. So today, let's give credit where credit is due—to the brainless blobs that have outlived dinosaurs, mastered the art of drifting, and proved that sometimes being spineless is actually a strength.