Japan fears massive jellyfish invasion this year
Japanese researchers monitoring the activity of giant jellyfish in Chinese waters are warning of a potentially historic and catastrophic invasion this year.
Marine surveys conducted in late June have revealed alarming numbers of Nomura’s jellyfish — massive creatures that grow up to 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) in diameter and weigh as much as to 220 kilograms (about 450 lbs) — lurking in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. The researchers warn that ocean currents may bring swarms of the monster jellies to Japan, which has been plagued by similar invasions in recent years.
Nomura’s jellyfish, 2007 (Photo: Sankei)
Based on what they have seen so far, the researchers warn this year’s onslaught of Nomura’s jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai, or Echizen kurage in Japanese) could deliver a massive blow to Japan’s fishing industry, rivaling even the devastating 2005 deluge that caused tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) in damage nationwide.
The surveys are being conducted by a team led by Shinichi Ue, a professor of biological oceanography at Hiroshima University who also chairs a government research committee tasked with developing technology to predict and control jellyfish explosions. Ue has been monitoring the population density of Nomura’s jellyfish in the southern Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea since 2006.
Between June 20 and 24, 2009, Ue’s team observed numerous specimens with umbrellas measuring 10 to 50 centimeters across, and they calculated an average distribution of 2.14 jellyfish per 100 square meters. This figure is more than 200 times higher than the 0.01 jellyfish per 100 square meters observed in the same region in 2008. It is also nearly triple the 0.77 jellyfish per 100 square meters observed in 2007, when the fishing industry in the Sea of Japan suffered widespread damage.
Nomura’s jellyfish, 2007 (Photo: Sankei)
To make matters worse, this year’s swarms appear to be taking a more direct and southerly route to Japan, unlike in 2007 when the jellyfish appeared to take a more northerly route, approaching the Sea of Japan coast from the direction of Korea. According to the researchers, the ocean currents could bring unprecedented numbers of Nomura’s jellyfish to Japan’s Pacific coast, which typically sees far fewer of the monster blobs than the Sea of Japan coast.
Nomura’s jellyfish typically bloom in Chinese waters in spring, and they mature into adults as ocean currents slowly carry them north. By July, when the first swarms reach Tsushima (just north of the southern island of Kyushu), many jellyfish are as large as sumo wrestlers. At this size, it only takes about 5 or 10 of them to destroy a commercial fishing net.
In addition to damaging nets, the giant jellyfish are blamed for killing other fish with their venom, lowering the quality and quantity of catches, increasing the risk of capsizing trawlers, and stinging fishermen.
In 2005, the fishing industry reported over 100,000 cases of jellyfish-related damage nationwide. At the peak of the invasion that year, an estimated 300 to 500 million monster jellyfish passed through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan each day.
[Source: Asahi]
I’ve heard about this invasion many times as it has been reported quite extensively, here in the UK. It looks like there is nothing that can be done to arrest the jellyfish, so God only knows what will happen when they ‘attack’..
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Why don’t they just eat them & leave the Dolphins & Whales alone?
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Um, they *do* eat them. Kurage is served cold, in a delicious soy-vinegar (maybe other things as well) sauce. Crunchy. I have a feeling that Japan eats much more Kurage than whale (by weight anyway), as you see it on far more menus.
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Tentacles + Japan FTW!
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That is one big jellyfish!
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i pee in you’re mom :)
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Dude, you’re (correctly used) weird.
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Learn the difference between your and you’re, IDIOT!
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jellyfish pee in you’re fishing industry
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The Japanese have recipes for everything. That is a cauldron full of soup, though.
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thats whack!
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Is this for real or is it a Japanese science fiction movie aka Godzilla?
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Nature’s answer to over-fishing?
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Nature’s answer to over-fishing, over-whaling, and over-polluting.
Japan once put out a movie called “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster” where the pollution becomes sentient and turns into an evil, sludge-slinging creature.
Well, these jellyfish are the world’s smog monster, come home to roost.
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glub. I read in national geographic that some group has been trying to destroy these suckers (er stingers) for years, catching hundreds, cutting them up and tossing the chunks back in the ocean. Trubs wuz, these gummy sumo fish basically spill all their pre-fertilized eggs when they are stressed, so the quantity has quadoopippled… they also think pollution makes these predators more dead.
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JAPANESE KILLED MILLIONS OF DOLPHINS, WHICH ANIMALS ARE VERY INTELLIGENT AND EVEN IN THIRD WORLD, EVEN IF FISHERMEN STARVE WOULD NEVER HURT A DOLPHIN. SO I DO NOT SYMPATHIZE WITHE THE JELLY FISH INVASION. IT IS SAID THAT WHEN THE FISHERMEN’S BOATS WERE CAPSIZED, DOLPHINS SAVE THEM FIGHTING AGAINST THE SHARKS.
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…and?
sure is BAWW in here.
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This isn’t a problem, it’s a result of years of overfishing of those seas….Jellyfish populations rise when their eggs and immature young aren’t eaten by fish or other species
The Japanese have removed all the fish from the seas surrounding them…..Jellyfish mature and grow without the check of predation
QUID PRO QUO for OVERFISHERS
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Amazing pictures! From what I’ve read, it’s really hard to get rid of these beasts because they switch into reproductive mode if they’re attacked, squirting out lots of baby jellies.
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Kusakus, it is actually “you’re” as in the abbrieviated “you are wierd” and not “your weird” which would suggest possesion of a “weird” by Mike. I did actually pee in your Mum (Australian spelling). I say feed the Jap fishermen to the jellyfish. OY!
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This is their fault for eating the sharks other fish that take control the number of jellyfish. there is nothing wrong about fishing, but catching thousands of sharks to cut their fins for soups and drop the rest of the body is a crime!
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Will the oceans current take these Jelly Fish to the East Coast of United States.
Do they come to the surface of the ocean (like beach areas)? Pretty scary if you are out swimming, will they attach humans??
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wait do jellyfish have eyes wtf
and jellys are so coool
:p
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