. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. winter, these larvae have settled to the bottom of the ocean and formed polyps. A polyp is the waiting, benthic — or bottom — stage of the jellyfish's life cycle. If temperatures get too cold, the polyp can squeeze into a cyst, waiting for the weather to warm. Each polyp can produce more polyps, or it can break into thin saucerlike divi- sions. In the spring, each saucer slowly floats to the surface, popping up as the bell-shaped, many-tentacled "medusa" that sends swimmers screeching. North Caro
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. winter, these larvae have settled to the bottom of the ocean and formed polyps. A polyp is the waiting, benthic — or bottom — stage of the jellyfish's life cycle. If temperatures get too cold, the polyp can squeeze into a cyst, waiting for the weather to warm. Each polyp can produce more polyps, or it can break into thin saucerlike divi- sions. In the spring, each saucer slowly floats to the surface, popping up as the bell-shaped, many-tentacled "medusa" that sends swimmers screeching. North Carolina has nine types of jellyfish and two comb jellies. Although most have a polyp stage and a medusa stage, these stages vary from season to season. Although the sea nettle lies low as a polyp in late fall and winter, the lion's mane rises as a medusa. The cycle depends on what type of wind, waves, temperature and food each jellyfish prefers. Oysters also take a break. All summer oysters have been spawning — pumping out billions of oyster larvae. In the fall, they begin to lay in fat for the winter and add to their shells. Fall and winter are prime times for oyster harvests, as the oysters get fat and tasty. In the summer, the oysters use up their fat stores as they begin to spawn again and become more watery. Most folks associate hibernation with bears, but bumblebees do it too. In the late summer or fall, queen bees seek a sheltered place to spend the winter. They hide in cavities of old walls, under fallen logs or moss, or an inch or so underground. After mating in late summer, the bumblebees stay in their hideaways until the next spring. This period can last as long as nine months. Because the queen bee stays hidden longer than the average winter hibernation, her beauty sleep is correctly called a diapause. Unlike honeybees, bumblebees form new colonies every year. Through- , out the spring and early summer, the queen bee has been laying eggs. These hatch into worker
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