Monster surfing jelly by Magnus Lundgren

This image was taken in Balayan Bay, Luzon, Philippines, 2019. 

A personal note from the photographer: The Brown paper nautilus is an argonaut, a free-swimming octopus of the open sea. It is known to cling to objects drifting with the ocean currents, including other argonauts. Here is a female nautilus surfing on top of a medusa hydroid drifting in the night ocean at 15 meters depth. Though the relationship is not fully understood yet, the nautilus is believed to use its host as a food source and as a defensive weapon. When the nautilus was photographed, it used the medusa as an active form of protection by turning it towards the camera, which it presumably perceived as a potential predator. The photographer's quote "Don't be lured to think we know it all, or believe that we have seen everything that is there. I am forever lost in ocean exploring."

Follow Magnus Lundgren on Instagram: @magnuslundgrenphotography