This video showing the swimming pattern of a jellyfish comes from the study A viscosity-enhanced mechanism for biogenic ocean mixing, performed by Kakani Katija and John O. Dabiri. The video exemplifies a dominant factor in ocean mixing: a form of animal wake turbulence coming from jellyfish (among other animals) that contribute to biogenic mixing and nutrient transport across the ocean. I chose this piece of media as a result of exploring what factors contribute to overall ocean mixing. However, I was completely mesmerized by the use of neon-colored dye to accurately portray the exact flow patterns that a jellyfish undergoes when propelling itself through the water.
2025 Best of Web – Jellyfish Flow
Categories
Flow Vis Guidebook
- Introduction to the Guidebook
- Overview 1: Phenomena. Why Does It Look Like That?
- Overview 2: Visualization Techniques
- Overview 3: Lighting
- Overview 4 - Photography A: Composition and Studio Workflow
- Overview 4 - Photography B: Cameras
- Overview 4 - Photography C: Lenses - Focal Length
- Overview 4 - Photography C: Lenses - Aperture and DOF
- Overview 4: Photography D: Exposure
- Overview 4 - Photography E - Resolution
- Overview 5 - Post-Processing
- Clouds 1: Names
- Clouds 2: Why Are There Clouds? Lift Mechanism 1: Instability
- Clouds 3: Skew - T and Instability
- Clouds 4: Clouds in Unstable Atmosphere
- Clouds 5: Lift Mechanism 2 - Orographics
- Clouds 6: Lift Mechanism 3 - Weather Systems
- Boundary Techniques - Introduction
- Dye Techniques 1 - Do Not Disturb
- Dye Techniques 2 - High Visibility
- Dye Techniques 3 - Light Emitting Fluids
- Refractive Index Techniques 1: Liquid Surfaces
- Refractive Index Techniques 2: Shadowgraphy and Schlieren
- Particles 1- Physics: Flow and Light
- Particles 2: Aerosols
- Particles 3: In Water
- Particles 4 -Dilute Particle Techniques
- Art and Science
- TOC and Zotpress test
- Photons, Wavelength and Color
1 Comment. Leave new
Second Place Vote! This post combines art and science in a beautiful way. I personally think that the vortex rings created by the jellyfish in this video are artistically cool and scientifically meaningful. The patterns created by the dye can help scientists to visualize how the jellyfish swims. More advanced and controlled particle tracking techniques (e.g. PIV, PTV) could be more useful to quantify the motion, but they aren’t always as “pretty” and require more work.