Question about my JAOM

I have an issue with my JAOM. My tiny autosiphon broke so I had to use my one for a 5-gallon carboy. Unfortunately I couldn't really get all of the mead out because of the size of the autosiphon and the fruit on the bottom of the jug. I went to clean out the jug I started my JAOM in and felt it was kind of heavy, so I sanitized a measuring cup and a strainer then strained out what I could into the cup.

The mead I strained out was really cloudy (with lees I assume) and I didn't want to throw it back into the mead that I just siphoned for multiple reasons (because I just siphoned as much as possible without lees for clarity, and because of possible contamination from straining). My question is: If I cold crash it, can I add it back into my mead or should I just toss it out and fill my mead back to a gallon with distilled or bottled water?

I attached pictures of what I have. The red color of my JAOM is because I went off of the original recipe and used blood oranges. It smells delicious but I haven't tried any yet. I went a hybrid route in the fact that I juiced the oranges and used the zest instead of the entire rind, but then also tossed the fruit in. Other than that I kept the recipe the same.

the stuff in your measuring cup will clear, the gross stuff will settle out then you could carefully decant the good stuff into your jug with the rest of it without any real issues

Thanks for the reply, I'll check on the measuring cup for the next day or so while waiting for the sediment to settle. My main concern is going to be getting the cleared mead out of the cup and into the jug without contaminating the mead.

With that small amount why even mess with it IMO...

While it's only 1/8 of a gallon, I'd rather dilute the mead as little as possible because I'm definitely going to need to fill the headspace until I am ready to bottle it. (aka. Until I get back home and can buy some bottles)

Put the yeasty dregs in a 2 litre pop/soda bottle in the fridge. It should clear quick enough. then once the sediment settles out, then carefully (gently) cut the top off the bottle and rack the clear part off the lees (with a "normal" racking cane).

it can then be added into the rest.

Oh, and by not including the whole orange, its likely you'll end up with an overly sweet batch, as there's no bitterness to balance the residual sugars.....

Thanks for the advice. As to the sweetness: I also used EC-1118 yeast. XD

Edit: For some reason I also think I used 3 lbs instead of 3.5 lbs of honey.