Jellyfish

The spring drought that stunted the region's crops promises to bring a thick carpet of jellyfish -- a creature that thrives when dry weather turns the Chesapeake nice and salty.Even in years of average rainfall, the bay is more densely packed with jellyfish than any other body of water. It's a fact that's unlikely to appear in a Maryland tourism campaign, but it has been a curious source of pride -- and inspiration -- for Dr. Joseph Burnett, a Maryland dermatologist who is one of the world's experts in jellyfish stings.

Bill was so good campaigning in Macedonia, he ought to run for senator in New York himself.Don't tell the justices, but the doctrine of state sovereignty makes no economic or political sense in the 21st century.Firing teachers only improves the schools when they are replaced by better teachers.The guy vote is so split, Baltimore's next mayor is probably Mary W. Conaway.Forget about the vanishing oyster, blue crab and shad. Our bay is the world's richest stinging jellyfish habitat.Pub Date: 6/25/99

If they only had a brain, the other-worldly creatures might have sensed they were on their way out of town when the video monitors and fiber optics came down.If they only had a heart, they might have felt a tad sad that their two-year idyll as stars of the National Aquarium's showcase exhibition "Jellyfish: Phantoms of the Deep" had come to an end.But at the 6 p.m. closing time Sunday, the thousands of mesmerizing moon jellies, umbrella jellies, elegant jellies, East and West Coast sea nettles, lion's manes and upside-down jellies -- brainless, heartless and boneless all -- were none the wiser that it was time to move on. And after drifting for at least 650 million years now, what was another couple hundred miles?

Say their names. Death adder. Green mamba. Black widow. Boomslang. The words stir ancient fears. Adrenalin seeps into the blood. The heart accelerates. Hairs stand on end.These creatures are not your everyday creepy-crawlies - the garter snake in the woodpile, the house spider that drops onto the bed or the bee that bumbles into the car as you drive.These babies can take you out. And they're waiting for you at the National Aquarium in Baltimore."Venom: Striking Beauties," which runs from Saturday through January 2000, features 40 of the world's scariest critters.

Dr. Stewart Bauman, an 84-year-old Columbia resident who has a degenerative disease, was leaving the National Aquarium in Baltimore in his wheelchair after silently watching the jellyfish and electric eels.Staffer member Audrey Suhr offered a warm goodbye. The occasion was Aquarium Cares, a free program inviting mentally and physically challenged visitors twice a year to have the entire place to themselves and family.In response, Bauman, looked at her and spoke words that were magic to his daughter, Nechie King, who had accompanied him:"I had a lovely time."

You usually waste no time running away from them. No one ever considers running to them.Jellyfish, those stinging creatures that are avoided at all costs, now will have their own exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Staffers are hoping the public will run to see them."Jellies: Phantoms of the Deep" opens Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Frances Hughes Glendening, wife of the governor, and it will remain at the aquarium for two years."Jellyfish are just amazing animals," says Mark Donovan, senior director of exhibits and design.

For 18-year-old Jason Selig, spending his summer on a science project is much more rewarding than going to the beach."Most times, when you ask kids what they did over the summer, they'll say they got sunburn and hung out at home," said the senior at Chesapeake Senior High School. "I'd rather say that I did research over the summer. It's more challenging than watching TV at my house."And that's what Mr. Selig did. He spent last summer researching the effects of jellyfish extract on the growth of a weed.

There's more to jellyfish than stinging goo on the beach.Starting Saturday, visitors to the National Aquarium in Baltimore will get a rare chance to see jellyfish as they really are -- delicate and mesmerizing creatures who are nettlesome to people only because they mistake swimmers for dinner."

David Pittenger stands on a boulder amid the steamy confines of the National Aquarium's rain forest, one of his favorite places to chill out, and weighs a few possibilities.Imagine, the aquarium's executive director says, a storm rolling in -- thunderclaps, lightning, heavy rains. For the benefit of the visitors, of course, with a little help from special effects like strobes, artificial fog, torrents of water falling onto the trees, even a little on the walkways."Just enough to get people wet, then the storm would pass," Mr. Pittenger says.

ABOARD THE LADY MARYLAND -- As the youngest crew member aboard, 7 1/2 -year-old Christopher Ernest won the highest privilege of the day: sniffing the end of the net that would be used to catch jellyfish and crabs for his 24 Southgate Elementary classmates to study Friday."

Jellyfish -- The title of Jellyfish immediately refers to a small girl (Nikol Leidman) with an extraordinarily intense and open face who emerges from the sea outside Tel Aviv, Israel, in bikini bottoms and a flotation tube. She walks into the path of a depressed waitress named Batya (Sarah Adler) and gives her a good shaking-up. But what gives the film a haunting and sometimes droll poetic unity is the way co-directors Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen trace all their characters moving in a jellyfishlike fashion.

SLAUGHTER BEACH, Del.-- --Of all the strange creatures at the beach - jellyfish floating like ghosts in the waves, blood-sucking deer flies searching the sand for human flesh, gold chain-wearing middle-aged men prowling the nightclubs - none has creeped out as many vacationers as this one. With an appearance many find hideous, a personality that's hard to locate and a tendency to be dead or dying when it does come ashore, it's no wonder this decidedly uncuddly...

When it comes to mosquitos, many of us fall into the category of "sweet meat," soft targets compared to the walking blood banks around us. Even if we slather on 100 percent DEET (destroying brain cells and anything plastic, like watch faces) there always remains a spot we forgot. Then we spend the night scratching like a junkyard dog with fleas. "After Bite" takes away the itch. The ammonia-based liquid doesn't smell good, but the odor dissipates as it dries. It not only works on mosquito bites but also the nibbles of horse flies and green-head flies.

On the water, nasty stuff happens: scrapes, dings and boo-boos. And that's just the boat. For the humans aboard, a first-aid kit is a must. Adventure Medical Kits, long a supplier to adventurers on terra firma, has come up with eight versions to cover anything from day-tripping to deep-blue voyages. The Marine 300 ($49; www.adventuremedicalkits.com) is perfect for the Chesapeake Bay, where medical assistance is about an hour away. The blue bag is smaller than a Stephen King thriller and weighs 1 pound, 14 ounces.

WITH THEIR creation of the world's first genetically modified monkey, Oregon scientists may have opened the door to rapid breakthroughs in the treatment of human diseases. Despite skepticism that the technique could go further to include human participation in such experiments, the discovery also opens the door to urgent discussion of its ethical implications. Can the technique, if perfected, be used on humans? If monkey embryos can be altered to produce a desired genetic trait, why not humans?

That's quite an insider's Cabinet for a president who ran against "Washington. DeeCee," George slipped up. his backup labor secretary is someone the unions respect. Soon there'll be two airlines in the country, Overbooked Air and Flight Delayed. Scientists crossed a monkey with a jellyfish and produced one confused little fella. Close California. It's just too costly to heat and cool.

Bill was so good campaigning in Macedonia, he ought to run for senator in New York himself.Don't tell the justices, but the doctrine of state sovereignty makes no economic or political sense in the 21st century.Firing teachers only improves the schools when they are replaced by better teachers.The guy vote is so split, Baltimore's next mayor is probably Mary W. Conaway.Forget about the vanishing oyster, blue crab and shad. Our bay is the world's richest stinging jellyfish habitat.Pub Date: 6/25/99

The spring drought that stunted the region's crops promises to bring a thick carpet of jellyfish -- a creature that thrives when dry weather turns the Chesapeake nice and salty.Even in years of average rainfall, the bay is more densely packed with jellyfish than any other body of water. It's a fact that's unlikely to appear in a Maryland tourism campaign, but it has been a curious source of pride -- and inspiration -- for Dr. Joseph Burnett, a Maryland dermatologist who is one of the world's experts in jellyfish stings.

Say their names. Death adder. Green mamba. Black widow. Boomslang. The words stir ancient fears. Adrenalin seeps into the blood. The heart accelerates. Hairs stand on end.These creatures are not your everyday creepy-crawlies - the garter snake in the woodpile, the house spider that drops onto the bed or the bee that bumbles into the car as you drive.These babies can take you out. And they're waiting for you at the National Aquarium in Baltimore."Venom: Striking Beauties," which runs from Saturday through January 2000, features 40 of the world's scariest critters.

If they only had a brain, the other-worldly creatures might have sensed they were on their way out of town when the video monitors and fiber optics came down.If they only had a heart, they might have felt a tad sad that their two-year idyll as stars of the National Aquarium's showcase exhibition "Jellyfish: Phantoms of the Deep" had come to an end.But at the 6 p.m. closing time Sunday, the thousands of mesmerizing moon jellies, umbrella jellies, elegant jellies, East and West Coast sea nettles, lion's manes and upside-down jellies -- brainless, heartless and boneless all -- were none the wiser that it was time to move on. And after drifting for at least 650 million years now, what was another couple hundred miles?