Jellyfish may elicit oohs and ahhs at aquariums , but out in the watery wild they can wreak rapid and serious bodily harm. The venomous sting of a box jellyfish known as the Chironex fleckeri can kill a person in three minutes....[More]
GELATINOUS MENACE
Jellyfish may elicit oohs and ahhs at aquariums, but out in the watery wild they can wreak rapid and serious bodily harm. The venomous sting of a box jellyfish known as the Chironex fleckeri can kill a person in three minutes.
They also pose a host of economic threats. An overload of jellyfish can burst fishing nets and contaminate catches. Costal waters thick with jellies can also clog cooling intakes at nearby power plants, notes a new study.
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Y. TANIGUCHI
SMART EATERS
Jellyfish feed mostly on zooplankton , which thrive in nutrient-rich waters (often attributed to excess fertilizer and sewage runoff). As food becomes abundant, so, too, can the jellyfish....[More]
SMART EATERS
Jellyfish feed mostly on zooplankton, which thrive in nutrient-rich waters (often attributed to excess fertilizer and sewage runoff). As food becomes abundant, so, too, can the jellyfish. When conditions are ideal, hundreds of thousands can flourish, resulting in a full-on jellyfish bloom, or "swarm."
When faced with a food shortage, fish often become weak and perish, but starving jellyfish can simply shrink and return to healthy size once food becomes available again, explains the new report. This makes both individuals and whole populations impressively hardy, even during lean times.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/STEFANI.DREW
DEAD ZONES
After a large plankton bloom, the decaying organic matter sucks up much of the water's oxygen, turning the area into a eutrophic " dead zone ." These dead zones—so called because few organisms can survive in these conditions—now make up about 100,000 square miles of the world's oceans, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF)....[More]
DEAD ZONES
After a large plankton bloom, the decaying organic matter sucks up much of the water's oxygen, turning the area into a eutrophic "dead zone." These dead zones—so called because few organisms can survive in these conditions—now make up about 100,000 square miles of the world's oceans, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The study authors explain that rather than perish with most of the other marine life, many species of jellyfish can thrive in low oxygen levels and feed on other remaining species, such as protists and flagellates.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/MICHA L. RIESER
CLIMATE CHANGE
Although they don't technically have brains (they have a "nerve net" instead), jellyfish are no dummies. Many of them prefer—and thrive in— warmer waters , which could mean a big jump in jelly populations with global warming, the paper's authors propose....[More]
CLIMATE CHANGE
Although they don't technically have brains (they have a "nerve net" instead), jellyfish are no dummies. Many of them prefer—and thrive in—warmer waters, which could mean a big jump in jelly populations with global warming, the paper's authors propose. Although historical data on jellyfish populations is scarce, a previous study has noted that over 50 years, warmer years in the North Atlantic consistently brought more jellyfish.
Many of the more dangerous jellyfish also live in tropical waters. Warmer seas worldwide could also bring an expansion of their habitat with "severe repercussions for the tourist industry," write the study authors.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/BUZZWOOF
OVERFISHING
Overfishing , as it turns out, is great news for jellyfish, which are now finding oceans an even better place to live and multiply, the study says....[More]
OVERFISHING
Overfishing, as it turns out, is great news for jellyfish, which are now finding oceans an even better place to live and multiply, the study says. Popular fish species, including anchovies and sardines, feast on the same fare as the jellyfish, so when the fish numbers dive, a bigger buffet opens up for the jellies. Others posit that a decrease in species that feed on the jellyfish themselves has also allowed them to flourish.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/DAVID GOEHRING
FREE RIDE
Jellies have hitched free rides all over the world, frequently traveling in the ballast water of ships. So when ocean water from faraway seas is dumped into, say, the Black Sea, where there is little native competition, invasive jellyfish can take over....[More]
FREE RIDE
Jellies have hitched free rides all over the world, frequently traveling in the ballast water of ships. So when ocean water from faraway seas is dumped into, say, the Black Sea, where there is little native competition, invasive jellyfish can take over. That's exactly what happened in 1982, when comb jellies first arrived there by accident. By 1990, they had taken over the ecosystem and cost the fishing and tourism industries an estimated $350 million, according to the NSF.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/STEVEN G. JOHNSON
HAPPY HABITAT
Much about the jellyfish life history is still unknown. In the early larval stage, known as polyps, jellyfish are suspected to prefer hard surfaces onto which they can attach....[More]
HAPPY HABITAT
Much about the jellyfish life history is still unknown. In the early larval stage, known as polyps, jellyfish are suspected to prefer hard surfaces onto which they can attach. Increasing costal development, offshore rigs and other objects may be aiding population booms by giving the baby jellies a solid habitat, notes the NSF.
One of the reasons so little is known about jellyfish development ("It's a little bit like talking about humans without knowing about children," says Costello) is that researchers can't seem to keep them alive in laboratories.
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/MALENE THYSSEN
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
"but many species are quite hardynot to mention, harmful. Aside from bothering beachgoers, they've been known to wreck fishing nets and actually kill swimmers."
Harmful for whom, is the key. What's harmful for us may not be harmful for the greater ocean. I'd be interesting to see the long-term effects of the process at work here. Perhaps this signifies a (even slight) "taking back" of the ocean, the jellyfish being the bulldozers, to clear and ultimately give way to other life forms...
The nature of life is battle, & no species rules forever.
I recently watched a program on National Geographic regarding this subject. The problem is the jelly fish are killing off all areas where groups of fish once populated, thus causing some small countries to not have the ability to harvest their main staple of food. In turn, the farmers are killing off the jelly fish. When that happens, the jelly fish release their fertility (sperm/eggs) and is getting fertilized in the water, creating more. The show of course gave a very gloomy outlook, but since that show, I've seen more and more articles regarding the issue.
3. Shoreliner11
in reply to hotblack01:43 PM 6/17/09
The bottom line is we just don't know. From the sheer diversity of life in the oceans, its safe to say, some species will benefit from climate change, some will not. With that said, for the majority of organisms currently studied with regards to climate change, they will not benefit from increased temp and decreased pH (ocean acidification). Jellyfish stand to potentially fill some of these empty niches because some are hardy (just as the article mentioned) and they also can withstand low pH and low dissolved oxygen which could kill (the DO part) fishes.
Hotblack, We see this as harmful because the more diversity in a foodweb, the greater the resilience (in other words it withstands stresses better and is less prone to collapse). If you create a monoculture of the oceans, this drastically reduces the systems resilience. The jellyfish will just fill open niches and utilize resources which have become underutilized due to those previous fish and invert. species dieing out. I would also classify the loss of many species to gain a lot of one, being "harmful."
It would be more economical to start paying the fishermen more for each jellyfish caught than they get for the fish. Then they'd stop cutting them up and dumping them, increasing their numbers and decimating the fish population. Bring them ashore and dispose of them safely and the problem will be mitigated somewhat.
This past summer, our local tidal lake(Nitinat) had thousands and thousands of jellyfish in it. very unusual from what I am told. Is it the warmer waters?
Led to this site/article while seeking info 'Clean Oceans Project' Led to 'Bearded Gobi feasting? and/or co mingling among Jellyfish for protection from Predators . . . Related information '470,000 Tons harvested annually' for Fine Dining in Southeast Asia! 'Jellyfish Burgers' mentioned as a Joke? or are they being served in Fine Dining zones?
Search 'Clean Oceans Project' relates to: "When life gives Lemons . . . . "When Oceans agglomerate 'Plastic' . . . Make 'Plasticade' and form 'New Land' by recycling the Plastic 'In Situ'! more written in 'gemail account': <jrjsjq@gmail.com> send email to that address if interested in hearing more about 'Plasticade' concept. Roy Stewart, Phoenix AZ <jrjsjq@gmail.com>
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7 Comments
Add Comment"but many species are quite hardynot to mention, harmful. Aside from bothering beachgoers, they've been known to wreck fishing nets and actually kill swimmers."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHarmful for whom, is the key. What's harmful for us may not be harmful for the greater ocean. I'd be interesting to see the long-term effects of the process at work here. Perhaps this signifies a (even slight) "taking back" of the ocean, the jellyfish being the bulldozers, to clear and ultimately give way to other life forms...
The nature of life is battle, & no species rules forever.
I recently watched a program on National Geographic regarding this subject. The problem is the jelly fish are killing off all areas where groups of fish once populated, thus causing some small countries to not have the ability to harvest their main staple of food. In turn, the farmers are killing off the jelly fish. When that happens, the jelly fish release their fertility (sperm/eggs) and is getting fertilized in the water, creating more. The show of course gave a very gloomy outlook, but since that show, I've seen more and more articles regarding the issue.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe bottom line is we just don't know. From the sheer diversity of life in the oceans, its safe to say, some species will benefit from climate change, some will not. With that said, for the majority of organisms currently studied with regards to climate change, they will not benefit from increased temp and decreased pH (ocean acidification). Jellyfish stand to potentially fill some of these empty niches because some are hardy (just as the article mentioned) and they also can withstand low pH and low dissolved oxygen which could kill (the DO part) fishes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHotblack,
We see this as harmful because the more diversity in a foodweb, the greater the resilience (in other words it withstands stresses better and is less prone to collapse). If you create a monoculture of the oceans, this drastically reduces the systems resilience. The jellyfish will just fill open niches and utilize resources which have become underutilized due to those previous fish and invert. species dieing out. I would also classify the loss of many species to gain a lot of one, being "harmful."
It would be more economical to start paying the fishermen more for each jellyfish caught than they get for the fish. Then they'd stop cutting them up and dumping them, increasing their numbers and decimating the fish population. Bring them ashore and dispose of them safely and the problem will be mitigated somewhat.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis past summer, our local tidal lake(Nitinat) had thousands and thousands of jellyfish in it. very unusual from what I am told. Is it the warmer waters?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTesting sign in name/password for comment on Jelly Fish explosion
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLed to this site/article while seeking info 'Clean Oceans Project'
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLed to 'Bearded Gobi feasting? and/or co mingling among Jellyfish for protection from Predators . . .
Related information '470,000 Tons harvested annually' for Fine Dining in Southeast Asia! 'Jellyfish Burgers' mentioned as a Joke? or are they being served in Fine Dining zones?
Search 'Clean Oceans Project' relates to: "When life gives Lemons . . . .
"When Oceans agglomerate 'Plastic' . . . Make 'Plasticade' and form 'New Land' by recycling the Plastic 'In Situ'!
more written in 'gemail account': <jrjsjq@gmail.com>
send email to that address if interested in hearing more about 'Plasticade' concept.
Roy Stewart,
Phoenix AZ
<jrjsjq@gmail.com>