Polarizing sunglasses will aid considerably in your ability to see jellies below the surface. Individuals have grown considerably since their August debut, with bell diameters of 30 to 40 cm and oral arms exceeding 1 meter not uncommon. By the end of the month these jellies were still going strong. The second week of September brought decent numbers of Beroe cucumis to certain surface locations in Carmel Bay, with a few B. forskalii in the mix. Many of these comb jelly munchers could be seen with mertensiid ctenophores in the gut.
Beroe are conspicuous and easily seen from the surface.
They are transparent and somewhat difficult to see. The dark gut nucleus is the best way to detect the sea butterfly. Various salps have also made appearances in Carmel Bay, most notably the striking Thetys vagina . Mingling within this brew was the normally deep-water species, Beroe abyssicola. When collected from deeper waters, this species has a striking rose coloration, which is lost within a few days when near the surface.