It turns out I did not swim with the jellies. They weren't there! Typically the wet season would have started in November, with rain producing ideal conditions for the critters that jellies eat. This year, no rain.
I looked for jellies wherever I went, and found quite a few--mostly dead or symbolic. I also started making jelly sculptures from palm fronds---I made 3-4 and left them hither and thither.
I learned that conservation activities to protect the Great Barrier Reef frequently happen at river mouths. For example, here are a cluster of projects working in wetlands that buffer the reef. I also learned that the reef is zoned.
These thoughts and sketches are slowly building toward a river mouth installation in Cincinnati when I visit Carnal Light co-conspirator Eva. I'll be there a week or two before Palm Sunday, so palm fronds might be available to us in middle America... Our current plan is to build lots of jellyfish sculptures from helpful plant matter and go pack them into a riverbank. The Ohio river has many long-suffering tributaries. All water eventually touches coral.
