Jellyfish plague coastal waters, a symptom of deeper problems

Darkfrog submitted, created time 3 months 1 week (www.nytimes.com)

Well, I can say with confidence that the jellyfish have been showing up on the coast of New Jersey more or less on schedule midsummer--just as the water turns from cold to warm--for about twenty years now. I only remember one year that could be called a bona-fide infestation. (Word of advice: ALWAYS rinse off and change clothes before the drive home. It's keeping the stingers next to your skin that causes what I'll delicately call "dermatological side effects.") This year wasn't one of them.

However, this article tells me that all over the world, jellyfish swarms are increasing in size and frequency, even in places where they have not been seen before. Aside from being a nuisance, they impede two industries at once: They clog fishing nets and sting tourists. Scientists say that this is caused by a combination of warming oceans, pollution (which cuts oxygen levels), and overfishing of the sharks and small and large fish that usually prey on the jellyfish. What I didn't know was that changes in rainfall can affect jellyfish as well. Usually rain and river flow off the coast decreases the salinity of the coastal waters, keeping jellyfish further out to sea.

But there is good news:

"A chef, presumably trying to find some advantage in the declining oceans, wanted to know if the local species were safe to eat if cooked."

SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY BEING SMART ABOUT THIS!! The researchers did not have an answer for the chef, but I am so heartened to read that someone, SOMEONE, is trying to find a use for the jellyfish so that we can just exercise our natural inclination to hunt them to extinction. That was my idea with the snakehead fish that trouble the American southeast and the cane toads that are massing in Australia. I'm not even mad that he copied me.

Keywords: jellyfish cnidarians warming oceans global warming global climate change climate change marine biology fishing tourism oceans