Symbiosis instead of Eat or Be Eaten

Symbiosis instead of Eat or Be Eaten © Stefanie Neumann - All Rights Reserved.

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Recently I saw a documentary on television about Ongeim’l Tketau, also known as Jellyfish Lake and located in the South Pacific island nation of Palau. There is an interesting jellyfish, from which we can learn a lot regarding new-energetic lifestyle, in my opinion.

Many jellyfish species are feeding on stunning their prey with the poison in their stinging tentacles to then digest the food. Others feed on algae. Eat or be eaten just as it has often been observed in nature.
The medusae in the Jellyfish Lake, however, have developed a special way for their diet. Rather than eating algae, they form a symbiosis with them.   And this is roughly how it works:

The algae need light to perform the process of photosynthesis.  Alas, they cannot move about very well on their own in the water and thus are dependent on current and wave activity, respectively exposed to them. The golden jellyfish, in turn, can easily move about on their own in the water, but they need food. The symbiosis of those two life forms is based on the fact that the transparent jellyfish moves through the water by following the light with the algae living in it.  This way the algae can perform its photosynthesis and thereby produces various substances that are excreted, such as sugars and trace elements, which then serve as food for the jellyfish.

I am finding that this way of life can be well transferred to a new-energetic coexistence. Instead of competing and fighting with each other and practicing “only the supposedly strong survive” we may choose to live with each other, to support each other with our talents and use our skills for peaceful coexistence. In the modern business language this is called a win-win situation. In millions of years of evolutionary process in nature we call it symbiosis.

As far as I know these jellyfish are not the only ones of their kind – and not the only creatures in general who enter such a peaceful cohabitation with other life forms. What I found particularly beautiful about this example, is the bright golden color of the animals. It fits real well, because aren’t we directly on the path into a golden age?

♥♥♥

 

Category : Observations
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