nature animals · Ages 6-8

The Jellyfish That Drifted Without a Map

A jellyfish moves by pulsing its bell but mostly drifts with currents, catching tiny food with trailing tentacles.

The whole story

1. At morning tide, a young moon jellyfish pulsed above the kelp. It wanted to find the warm, sparkling water beyond the reef.

2. The jellyfish found a shell with a curling line. It wished the line were a map.

3. It pulsed left. It pulsed right. It moved a little, but the ocean moved more.

4. A broad current caught the jellyfish. It carried the jellyfish past the sea grass and out toward open water.

5. A sea turtle glided by. The jellyfish tried to ask which way the warm water was, but the current carried both of them apart.

6. Then tiny plankton sprinkled through the water. The jellyfish opened its tentacles and gathered a small supper.

7. With food in its belly, the jellyfish stopped searching for a route. It pulsed when it needed to, and let the warm current choose the rest.

8. The jellyfish had no map, yet the ocean still carried it onward. A jellyfish moves by pulsing its bell, but mostly drifts with currents, catching tiny food with trailing tentacles.

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