NatGeo Fail

By The Marine Detective on November 9, 2023

[Positive update November 12: NatGeo has taken the video down from Instagram and Facebook. But, still has it on their YouTube Channel.]

Whoa!
Astoundingly and disconcertingly inaccurate!

This video is from National Geographic. The added text is mine. The first time they used the video was 5 years ago for “Alaska’s Deadliest on National Geographic TV”. NatGeo Wild posted the sensationalized and inaccurate video again on November 3, 2023 to their audiences of millions of people.

They are evidently not “encumbered” by the lack of logic and truth, despite the feedback of many. They knew how incorrect it was 5 years ago, chose to use it again, and are not heeding any of the concerns. I have provided feedback on their social media posts and am providing it here too in the hopes of countering the misinformation and holding NatGeo accountable for accuracy. They have the responsibility not to create, and perpetuate, sensationalized nonsense.

Is this worth the effort especially with so much else going on in the world? For me, it’s clearly yes. Putting this kind of illogical, inaccurate information into the world especially when perceived as an educational giant is NOT okay. It feeds the atrophying of truth, science and facts.

Deep, deep sigh.

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The feedback I provided NatGeo Wild about the video:

“This content is astoundingly inaccurate. Reflect on the reality that salmon eggs are laid in freshwater, on the bottom. These jelly species do not feed on the bottom and are almost always in the ocean, not freshwater.

The eggs you say are salmon eggs being eaten by the Moon Jelly are her own fertilized eggs! In Moon Jellies, when the male releases sperm, the pulsing action of the female Moon Jelly brings the sperm in contact with the eggs under her oral arms and are brooded there.

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My photo below shows a female Moon Jelly with fertilized eggs under their oral arms. The eggs she are brooding are brighter white. See them?

Moon jellies are Aurelia labiata, maximum size is 40 cm across. 

NatGeo social media posts with this video are:
Instagram – www.instagram.com/p/CzMDQk4i3oB/ [Now taken down]
Facebook – www.facebook.com/reel/3685193188394528 [Now taken down]
Email – feedback@nationalgeographic.ca
Original YouTube post with the video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sO3XJY1hro