The ocean is now one of the few places on Earth where you can experience true adventure, filled with discovery, surprises, and never-before-seen wonders.
The open sea is a vast expanse, but in the immensity of the ocean, there are also refuges and dark abysses, ideal places for the many creatures that seek to go unnoticed by humans, and where even science and knowledge have difficulty shining light on the unfamiliar.
In Portugal’s territorial waters, there is a great diversity of living creatures, in the most varied shapes, sizes and colours, from the largest animal on the planet, the blue whale, to the tiniest plankton.
In this part of the Atlantic Ocean, we also find an extensive list of invertebrates with very special characteristics, as is the case with the gelatinous animals. With no fixed abode, they drift endlessly at the whim of winds and currents in the abundant water column, with no obstacles or borders of any kind. Despite their fragile, sensitive bodies, which have no hard parts, their sheer numbers are a testament to their powers of self-perpetuation.
Many of these creatures form the bedrock of micro ecosystems. From tiny algae, which sometimes live in symbiosis with them, to an array of small crustaceans in all shapes, sizes and colours, as well as small fish, all integrate harmoniously with these translucent animals.
Many of these organisms display vibrant colours, albeit only visible in a certain light. Some of the most spectacular jellyfish exhibit bioluminescence, a luminous phenomenon that can only be glimpsed in dark environments, during twilight or at night – as if a secret revealed only to those who observe these creatures closely.
Over the decades, I have encountered a huge variety of these animals in Portuguese territory, from the surface to the deepest sites only accessible to scuba divers. Some of these many species have incredible life stories that deserve to be told and celebrated.
Luís Quinta Nature Photographer
The Azores
The Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) is a gelatinous animal that spends its entire life on the surface of the open sea, forming part of the megaplankton. This cnidarian is made up of four distinct organisms: one polyp has the reproductive function (gonozooid); another has the ability to digest prey (gastrozooid); yet another, made up of tentacles, has the task of capturing prey (domonoctozooid) and, finally, the fourth polyp (the gas-filled bladder) allows the ensemble to float on the surface of the sea. Together, they appear to be a single organism, which has only recently been studied in great detail, making it possible to reproduce it in the laboratory and understand its reproductive phase and early life. Its defence system, capsules (nematocysts) that function like micro harpoons, can cause painful burns on human skin when triggered.
The Portuguese man o’war is distributed throughout Portugal, and can be seen in the thousands along the coasts of the various Azorean islands.
The violet sea urchin (Sphaerechinus granularis), widely distributed throughout the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, is quite common in all Portuguese waters.
It comes in a variety of colours, including green, violet, white and brown, and can be seen on a variety of marine substrates, such as rock, sand and algae. It feeds mainly on the latter, but can opportunistically consume detritus or dead organic matter.
This species likes to disguise itself with countless pieces of matter that it finds along its way, such as shells, algae, plastic, wood, stones and other materials.
