Slide Show: Jellyfish Jamboree--Are They Set to Seize the Seas?
A new paper proposes that humans are making the oceans a very happy habitat for jellyfish. Here's a closer look
Slide Show: Jellyfish Jamboree--Are They Set to Seize the Seas?
- 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... WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/MALENE THYSSEN
- 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... WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/STEVEN G. JOHNSON
- 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... WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/DAVID GOEHRING
- 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)... WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/MICHA L. RIESER
