This week in jellyfish

[brainpanhandler]

[jingofever]

They’re Taking Over!

A grim review of Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean
by Lisa-ann Gershwin.

[jfshade]

Jellyfish clog pipes of Swedish nuclear reactor forcing plant shutdown

Oskarshamn nuclear power plant cleared of jellyfish cluster but biologists warn closures of this kind are becoming more common



A huge cluster of jellyfish forced the Oskarshamn plant, the site of one of the world's largest nuclear reactors, to shut down by clogging the pipes conducting cool water to the turbines.

Operators of the plant on the Baltic coast in south-east Sweden had to scramble reactor No 3 on Sunday after tons of jellyfish were caught in the pipes.

By Tuesday, the pipes were cleared of the jellyfish and engineers were preparing to restart the 1,400MWe boiling water reactor, said Anders Osterberg, a spokesman for OKG, the plant operator.

All three Oskharshamn reactors are boiling-water types, the same technology used for Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered a catastrophic failure in 2011 after a tsunami breached the facility's walls and flooded equipment.

Jellyfish are not a new problem for nuclear power plants. Last year, the Diablo Canyon facility in California had to shut its reactor 2 after sea salp, a gelatinous, jellyfish-like organism, clogged intake pipes. In 2005, the first unit at Oskarshamn was turned off temporarily due to a sudden influx of jellyfish.

Nuclear power plants need a constant flow of water to cool their reactors and turbine systems, which is why many plants are built near large bodies of water.

Marine biologists said they would not be surprised if more jellyfish shutdowns occurred in the future.

"It's true that there seems to be more and more of these extreme cases of blooming jellyfish," said Lene Moller, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment. "But it's very difficult to say if there are more jellyfish, because there is no historical data."

The species that caused the Oskarshamn shutdown is known as the common moon jellyfish.

"It's one of the species that can bloom in extreme areas that … are over-fished or have bad conditions," said Moller. "The moon jelly likes these types of waters. They don't care if there are algae blooms, they don't care if the oxygen concentration is low. The fish leave … and [the moon jelly] can really take over the ecosystem."

Moller said the biggest problem was that there was no monitoring of jellyfish in the Baltic sea to produce the data scientists needed for decisions on tackling the issue

[Cosmic Cowbell]

Jellyfish* are serious business. If you get enough of them in one place, bad things happen. And we're not just talking about some mildly annoying stings, but all-out nuclear war. Obviously, we have to fight back. With ROBOTS.

In South Korea, jellyfish are threatening marine ecosystems and are responsible for about US $300 million in damage and losses to fisheries, seaside power plants, and other ocean infrastructure. The problem is that you don't just get a few jellyfish. I mean, a few jellyfish would be kind of cute. The problem is that you get thousands of them. Or hundreds of thousands. Or millions, all at once, literally jellying up the works.

Large jellyfish swarms have been drastically increasing over the past decades and have become a problem in many parts of the world, Hyun Myung, a robotics professor at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), tells IEEE Spectrum. And they aren't affecting just marine life and infrastructure. "The number of beachgoers who have been stung by poisonous jellyfish, which can lead to death in extreme cases, has risen," he says. "One child died due to this last year in Korea."

So Professor Myung and his group at KAIST set out to develop a robot to deal with this issue, and last month, they tested out their solution, the Jellyfish Elimination Robotic Swarm (JEROS), in Masan Bay on the southern coast of South Korea. They've built three prototypes like the one shown below.

More...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robo ... otic-swarm

[Cosmic Cowbell]

[KUAN]

Giant 20kg jellyfish spotted in an estuary in Cornwall

[test_yt][/test_yt]

[beeline]

http://www.app.com/story/news/local/2015/01/15/box-jellyfish-jersey-shore-manasquan-river-new-jersey/21790935/


Dangerous jellyfish may come back to Jersey Shore

Imagine swimming at the Jersey Shore and a nasty jellyfish with a searing sting heads your way.

There’s little you can do to avoid this poisonous box jellyfish, an exotic species that can out-swim most swimmers.

If you get stung, symptoms include burning pain, swelling skin, blisters and scarring.

Last fall, Shore residents found roughly a half-dozen box jellyfish washed up on beaches in northern Ocean County and spotted another one in the Manasquan River. Box jellyfish, which have boxy shapes and venom-laced tentacles, thrive in warm coastal waters around the world. The Gulf Stream may have carried these animals north and a storm or winds may have steered them toward the Jersey Shore, according to experts.

The extremely rare sightings caused a stir in the world of jellyfish experts, who say it’s possible that the jellyfish will be back this year when the water warms up.

It’s “earth-shaking what’s happened here,” said Bud Gillan, who grew up in Ocean Grove and teaches AP/honors biology at Boynton Beach Community High School in Florida. “It’s an amazing story.”

“We have evidence that box jellies are moving up the coastline,” said Gillan, who is also a scientist at the CIEE Research Station on the Caribbean island of Bonaire. “I’d say it’s a pretty good bet we’ll see them in the summer (in New Jersey). Maybe they’re offshore, maybe it is closer.”

Story: Dangerous jellyfish found in Manasquan River

Allen G. Collins, a federal jellyfish expert based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, has cut open and examined one of the New Jersey box jellies. He’s quite certain the species is Tamoya haplonema, first described in 1859 by a German naturalist who lived in Brazil.

Haplonema‘s box is actually a roughly rectangular bell that can grow to about 4 inches long by 2 inches wide. Each of the bell’s four corners has a tentacle that can stretch from 4 to 40 inches in length. The transparent bell is covered by small warts, and the tentacles are pale-whitish, according to Collins, a zoologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

He has yet to perform DNA analysis to try to confirm its identity. But Tamoya haplonema has been found as far north in the western Atlantic Ocean as Massachusetts, according to Collins.

Jack Gaynor, an associate professor of biology and molecular biology at Montclair State University in Montclair, has been trying to identify the species and expects to have an answer this month.

Paul Bologna, director of the Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences Program at Montclair State, said “clearly, it is very possible that we see them again next summer.” The global rise in the jellyfish population would suggest that increased sightings are possible in the future, he said in an email.

Story: Fear for Barnegat Bay — can it be saved?

Jerry Meaney, a retired emergency medical technician who lives in Point Pleasant, spotted a box jellyfish in the Manasquan River in October. He took photos and video of the strange creature and posted them on his Facebook page: Barnegat Bay Island, NJ, piquing the interest of jellyfish researchers around the world.

Meaney also found a box jellyfish on the beach in Bay Head — it was still moving a little — and drove it to Collins for identification at the Smithsonian.

“It could have been a freak, but you know we’re all going to be looking” for more jellyfish, said Meaney, captain of the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid and Emergency Squad. “It will probably be June before the water warms up again to a good temperature.”

Leslie Forsberg Pilat, a legal assistant who lives in Point Pleasant, said she saw three box jellyfish on the Bay Head beach last fall.

“They’re very large, a lot larger than I thought they were and pinkish in color, very long tentacles, thick tentacles like the size of a pencil,” she said.

She placed one in a Ziploc bag, taking care not to touch the animal. She contacted Meaney and talked with Gillan and Bologna. A Montclair State student drove down to take it back for analysis.

“I thought it was really cool,” she said. “I was really excited about the whole thing.”

But is she worried about taking a dip in the Atlantic now?

It “makes me a little nervous to swim in the ocean, but I’ll swim in the ocean anyway,” she said.

[Iamwhomiam]

Chinese jellyfish swarms to attack Japan?

SHIGEHISA FURUYA, Nikkei staff writer

January 18, 2015 1:00 pm JST


A Nomura's jellyfish is caught in a fishing net. (photo courtesy of Shinichi Ue, a professor at Hiroshima University)

TOKYO -- Seas around the world are turning into jellyfish soup, as swarms of the creatures hit coastal areas, paralyzing power plants and undermining fisheries.

These massive outbreaks are being caused by coastal development, overfishing and other manmade factors. Giant jellyfish have been swarming into the Sea of Japan in recent years

The phenomenon in Japan is believed to be closely related to China's economic development.

Power plant damage

Sweden's Oskarshamn nuclear power plant on the Baltic Sea coast in September 2013 was tense. The plant could not get water from the sea to cool its reactors. Its water intake was clogged with jellyfish. OKG, the plant operator, temporarily halted the facility as a precautionary measure.

A similar thing happened at Kansai Electric Power's Ako thermal power plant in Hyogo Prefecture in August 2012. Seas surrounding the plant were swamped with jellyfish.

As the thermal power plant could not get cooling water from the sea, it had to give up on starting up the facility for a while.

Baskets were used to pluck jellyfish from the sea. They reportedly broke under the weight of so many of the blobby sea creatures.

Trouble brewing

The French Riviera, one of the world's most popular luxury seaside resorts, has been flooded with armies of jellyfish for the past several years.

Vacationers staying there are said to pay more attention to jellyfish forecasts than the weather. A local oceanographic institute has started issuing jellyfish alerts.

The jellyfish problem was one of the main items on the agenda at an international marine conservation conference held in Barcelona, Spain, last November.

Shinichi Ue, a professor at Japan's Hiroshima University, delivered a lecture at the conference. He warned the world's seas "will be in big trouble" if the international community "fails to get serious about countermeasures against jellyfish."

The signs were there

Japan is a developed country in terms of countermeasures against jellyfish. It was beset by species such as moon jellyfish and Nomura's jellyfish before the problem became a global one.

Swarms of Nomura's jellyfish measuring more than 2 meters in diameter and weighing upward of 150kg in 2002 began arriving in Japan. Before then, massive outbreaks had occurred about every 40 years. They have become an almost annual occurrence since.

A fishing boat off Inubosaki in Chiba Prefecture capsized in 2009 after its fishing net was clogged with Nomura's jellyfish.

Damage to Japan's fisheries caused by outbreaks of Nomura's jellyfish one year reportedly reached 30 billion yen ($252 million).

Cost of growth

Where are the swarms of Nomura's jellyfish overwhelming Japan coming from?

A study by professor Ue and the Fisheries Research Agency found the jellyfish are born in northern parts of the East China Sea.

China's coastal areas have been significantly developed; its seashores are rapidly being overrun by concrete embankments. These embankments are desirable for polyps -- baby jellyfish -- to stick to and grow.

Fast-developing Chinese coastal areas are also pouring huge amounts of sewage and agricultural wastewater into the sea. This contains nitrogen and phosphorus, which boost plankton populations. Jellyfish thrive on plankton.

"China's coastal region contains the perfect culturing fluid for jellyfish," said Ue.

Polyps sticking to embankments release child jellyfish measuring only 2-3mm in spring. These are pushed by currents into the Genkainada area off the coast of Japan's southern island of Kyushu in early summer. By this time, the jellyfish weigh several kilograms. They grow to exceed 100kg in autumn, when they reach the northern part of Honshu, the biggest of Japan's four main islands.

Gobbling up plankton

Zooplankton, which drift in the seas, are devoured by Nomura's jellyfish. A particularly big Nomura's jellyfish takes in a enough seawater to fill a swimming pool daily, gobbling up the plankton it catches in the process.

Plankton are also the prey of juvenile sardines and horse mackerel. The proliferation of jellyfish is believed to be linked to the overfishing of such species.

The arrival of Nomura's jellyfish in Japan in large quantities has not been confirmed in the past year or two. It is too early for Japan to let down its guard, though. Child jellies can stay in a form of suspended development covered by stiff shells for eight years or so.

Any stimulus can cause these sleeping, soon-to-be giants to wake up en masse. China's embankments are home to an astronomical number of these babies waiting for the right time to grow.

If the issue of jellyfish plaguing Japan is to be resolved, trilateral cooperation is essential among Japan, China and South Korea.

Wake-up call?

Explosive jellyfish population growth in recent years has been confirmed in various parts of the world, including the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

As in Japan waters, the causes of outbreaks in those seas are believed to be coastal development, nutrient enrichment, overfishing of commercial fish species, global warming and so on.

Enormous blooms of jellyfish around the world may be the wake-up call humanity needs if it is to stop destroying marine ecosystems.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Science/Chinese-jellyfish-swarms-to-attack-Japan

[Blue]

enenews link

KUOW (NPR station in Seattle) transcript, May 12, 2015 (emphasis added): Jellyfish Boom As Little Fish Disappeared… A bill signed by Governor Jay Inslee authorizes a major study of fish in Puget Sound… A new study suggests that the little guys are disappearing… [NOAA biologist] Correigh Greene is standing near the end of a fishing dock in West Seattle. He’s not here to fish, but he tells me what he’d expect to catch if he threw a net in the water here: Some young salmon pumped out by hatcheries — (Green): “and that’s mostly it, aside from a bunch of jellyfish”… In much of Puget Sound… researchers rarely pull up the little fish that salmon, and even orcas, depend on. Mostly they get big hauls of jellyfish. Greene recalls one of the biggest — (Green): “The net was so filled with jellyfish we couldn’t bring it on board. It was too heavy for our winch. It’s fairly disturbing when all you pull up are these huge masses of jellyfish.”… Jellies seem to be replacing the tastier parts of the food chain, like herring… federal biologists can’t explain why forage fish, like herring, have declined by 98 percent or more in much of Puget Sound.

[smoking since 1879]

enenews link

KUOW (NPR station in Seattle) transcript, May 12, 2015 (emphasis added): Jellyfish Boom As Little Fish Disappeared… A bill signed by Governor Jay Inslee authorizes a major study of fish in Puget Sound… A new study suggests that the little guys are disappearing… [NOAA biologist] Correigh Greene is standing near the end of a fishing dock in West Seattle. He’s not here to fish, but he tells me what he’d expect to catch if he threw a net in the water here: Some young salmon pumped out by hatcheries — (Green): “and that’s mostly it, aside from a bunch of jellyfish”… In much of Puget Sound… researchers rarely pull up the little fish that salmon, and even orcas, depend on. Mostly they get big hauls of jellyfish. Greene recalls one of the biggest — (Green): “The net was so filled with jellyfish we couldn’t bring it on board. It was too heavy for our winch. It’s fairly disturbing when all you pull up are these huge masses of jellyfish.”… Jellies seem to be replacing the tastier parts of the food chain, like herring… federal biologists can’t explain why forage fish, like herring, have declined by 98 percent or more in much of Puget Sound.

A new study suggests that the little guys are disappearing

herring, have declined by 98 percent or more in much of Puget Sound

98%, "suggests"

[Iamwhomiam]

^^^^ "suggests"

Well, they could just temporarily be on vacation.

[ShinShinKid]

Here's one...


http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/05/g ... therlands/

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http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/29386047/potentially-deadly


HARVEY CEDARS, N.J. -

The Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol in Ocean County New Jersey is warning swimmers to be aware of their surroundings, after something extremely dangerous washed up on their shores.

Beach Patrol shared a photo of the potentially deadly Portuguese man o' war jelly fish that washed up on the beach over the weekend.

According to their Facebook page, wind is coming from the northeast, and warm waters from the gulf stream were brought to shore.

That warm water is often accompanied by seaweed and 'critters' from down south.

The beach patrol asks beach goers to always be aware of their surroundings, and any further sightings of these potentially deadly jelly fish should be reported.

The purple and blue critters are most commonly found in tropical waters.

Being stung by a Man-O-War is said to be much more painful that a regular jelly fish's sting.

With tentacles that can reach 30 feet, a sting from a Man-O-War can lead to abdominal pain, changes in pulse, chest pain, collapse, headache, muscle pain and spasms.

Officials are warning people to keep their distance from jell

[brainpanhandler]

[MinM]

@Deadspin

Jellyfish are assholes. http://deadsp.in/cCms0eB

Taking Advantage Of The Jellyfish Invasion
by Madeleine Brand

Day to Day, February 3, 2009 · Giant jellyfish can grow as large as six feet in diameter and weigh 450 pounds. Over the years, millions have migrated from the coast of China into Japanese waters. Scientists believe they're floating on ocean currents warmed by global climate change. One Japanese entrepreneur, Kaneo Fukuda, is benefiting from the invasion by marketing jellyfish products, including makeup and mixed drinks. This interview originally aired October 3, 2007.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =100185758