Where to view Sea Nettles in Monterey in February?

[shoelessone]

I took a freediving class a few months ago, and we did our "open water" "deep" dive (not really deep, I'm new, but ~30 feet) at the metridium fields. Anyway, it was AMAZING because there were sea nettles EVERYWHERE, and it was very beautiful. We were literally pushing them out of out way as we swam down.

My wife has never seen them however(well, she's seen jellyfish/sea nettles of course, but not like TONS of them), but really wants to. If we go diving in February, will they still be there? Is it a hit and miss thing? Any tips if we're specifically interested in seeing tons of sea nettles/jellyfish?

Thanks in advance!

 

[KRL1973]

Glad you enjoyed your dive. Many divers don't care to dive with thick nettles as they do sting a bit and can be hard to see around when they are thick.

In my experience the jellyfish seem to show up all at once and linger for a few days to a week and then disappear. late Summer-Fall seems to have the biggest waves as far as density and frequency of events.

As far as location, They can be anywhere, but it seems that breakwater and nearby shore dive sites see the most frequent and densest events.

Do your dive in Feb., even if you don't see jellies, as a new diver you are likely to see something else just as amazing or perhaps more so (diving with the sea lions at the end of the breakwater is awesome)

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Best place to see nettles in February? The Aquarium.

The nettles show up when the vis is green. They eat the green. There's little sunlight in February for both Astronomical (short days) and Meteorological (cloudy) reasons, hence little green, hence few nettles.

 

[SCMZ]

There were a some nettles out at the Metridium fields today. Definitely not a ton, but there were some big ones and they were still pretty

 

[zf2nt]

I just finished reading a book called "Stung", from the University of Chicago Press (Stung!: On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean, Gershwin, Earle) and I strongly recommend it. It's all about jellyfish blooms and why they occur. This has to be the most ultimately depressing book on the state of our oceans I've ever read, but I still think it is "must" reading. After reading this book, you won't be so overjoyed to see any more nettle blooms.

Bruce