Beautiful things that hurt

Back to work, the blog will go on. We'll see if it changes at all.

9th June2010, Embleton Bay, 8am

I ran my first ad hoc course on Wednesday but nobody came. It's a quiet week here and I have no worries that things will pick up in the Summer.

Here's a lesson for anyone who decided to not bother because it was a grey sky day. The overcast clouds had beautiful details within. This is one of my favourite pictures for ages.

The shoreline was covered in jellyfish. Some I can identify, others don't appear in my books. I presume they all sting to one extent or another.

First one - distinctive pattern but no idea what it is.

2nd one - beautiful but no idea what it is.

3rd one a Lion's Mane jelly fish which I presume only looks like a lion's mane if you meet it underwater.

Finally the common but beautiful moon jellyfish.

9th June10, Howick coast, 7pm

This is Nightshade but not deadly. This is "Bittersweet" or Woody Nightshade. The berries start bitter, turn sweet in the mouth and then make you violently ill. The flowers are beautiful.