Six years ago, Boynton Beach, FL, high school biology teacher Bud Gillian was swimming when he noticed an odd-looking box jellyfish. Keeping a careful distance, he stayed with the jelly for as long as he could, then headed to shore and began a long program of research and consulting with authorities. In the end, he got what he was after: confirmation he'd seen a previously unrecorded species. Awaiting a formal scientific name when a paper is published later this summer is the Caribbean Banded Box Jelly, a small, highly venomous addition to the known fauna of the Caribbean.
COMMENT: I love stories like this: Interested amateur spots something intriguing, pursues it for however long it takes, and adds new knowledge to science. Congratulations to Mr. Gillian.
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