Jam the Immortal Jellyfish

Hey, there! I was drifting slowly by and thought I’d stop to say hi. I’m Jam, the immortal jellyfish. Now that’s a weird name, right? Immortal jellyfish? Well, “immortal” means to live forever.

Now, you might think because I’m called immortal, I have eternal life. But that’s not true. Here’s how being immortal works for me. I have two life cycles. The first is the polyp stage (pronounced like Paul-up). I don’t look anything like I do now during that stage. I look more like a soft coral. That polyp buds into the second stage: the medusa stage. That’s when I look like I do now—like a jellyfish. Now, when I get old, or if I’m injured or feeling threatened, I can go back to the polyp stage again. From there, I can enter the medusa stage…then the polyp stage…then the medusa stage—you get the point! It’s like if you could grow up, become an older person, and then become a baby again (and do that over and over again!). This makes me the only immortal animal on earth.

Of course, if I want to keep going through these cycles, I have to watch out for hungry fish and stay healthy. Predators and disease are my biggest threats. Old age—now that’s no problem for me!

I want to remind you that only God can give eternal life. All of us—even an “immortal” jellyfish like me—will die someday because of sin in creation. But, unlike me, God gave people an eternal soul that will live forever. To live forever with God, which is eternal life, you must admit you’re a sinner, want to turn away from your sin (repent), and believe Jesus died and came back to life to take the punishment for your sin. When you sincerely trust Jesus for eternal life, you become a child of God and will be his for all eternity.

The eternal life God offers, in heaven with him, is a way greater treasure than my “immortal” life cycle.

Immortal Jellyfish Classification

Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Anthoathecata
Family: Oceaniidae
Genus: Turritopsis
Species: dohrnii
Lifespan: Continuous (“immortal”)