A fluther? I think not.

Collective nouns are interesting to me (you know, a murder of crows, a pod of Orcas, an embarrassment of riches).   So what is the proper collective noun for jellyfish? A clump? A wad? A clot? A jar?  Wikipedia gives two: a fluther of jellyfish, or a smack of jellyfish.  Neither of these, it seems to me, fits well.  I propose: a preserve of jellyfish.

This Saturday morning, when returning to Eolian in the dinghy while anchored in Liberty Bay, I encountered the densest preseve of jellyfish I have ever seen. They were packed so tightly that I wondered if my little outboard was going to overheat because it was starved for water.  I have never seen jellyfish so densely packed.  Luckily I had my trusty iPhone handy to capture the tannish colored heaving mass right alongside Eolian's hull.  (Side note:  I have never thought of jellyfish as having a color before).

At first, I thought that this was a universal phenomenon - that all of Liberty Bay was viscous with jellyfish.  But when I climbed aboard and got a higher viewpoint, the view from on deck showed that this was localized.  In this picture, the brownish stain is the preserve of jellyfish.  (See?  Preserve works.)

The sea is a weird and wonderful place.  One should never have the hubris to say that they have "seen it all".