A Glance at Plastic Bag in the Ocean that Deceive the Human Eye

“Watch out for that jellyfish behind you,” my friend had said from the pier while I was swimming in the ocean. Looking around, I saw the object that my friend was referring to. (See the picture below).

Observing it, I noticed that it was not a jellyfish but in fact a plastic bag. While taking a picture of the said plastic, I noticed another plastic bag drifting close. So I took another picture. (See the other picture below.)

I observed the other plastic bag and felt that something was amiss. Despite the similarity, when I took notice of it’s characteristic, this said plastic bag was actually a jellyfish. But I didn’t know what type. So using the Internet, I searched about the types of jellyfish and came up with these pictures.

The two pictures from the Internet have similarities with the photo of the jellyfish that I took. I found out the name of the jellyfish is Mnemiopsis leidyi also known as warty comb jelly or sea walnut. Its body is translucent which makes it look similar to a plastic bag. Knowing this, I think that it make sense how marine life would mistake plastic bag for jellyfish. Even the human eye was deceived