Here's Your New Environmental Phrase For The Week: "Jellyfish Stable State" - ENN

[hatrack]

Giant jellyfish are taking over parts of the world's oceans as overfishing and other human activities open windows of opportunity for them to prosper, say researchers.

Jellyfish are normally kept in check by fish, which eat small jellyfish and compete for jellyfish food such as zooplankton, researchers said. But, with overfishing, jellyfish numbers are increasing. These huge creatures can burst through fishing nets, as well as destroy local fisheries with their taste for fish eggs and larvae.

Anthony Richardson of CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research and colleagues reported their findings in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution to coincide with World Oceans Day. They say climate change could also cause jellyfish populations to grow. The team believes that for the first time, water conditions could lead to what they call a "jellyfish stable state," in which jellyfish rule the oceans.

The combination of overfishing and high levels of nutrients in the water has been linked to jellyfish blooms. Nitrogen and phosphorous in run-off cause red phytoplankton blooms, which create low-oxygen dead zones where jellyfish survive, but fish can't, researchers said.

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40035

[phantom power]

1. Please kill me.

[villager]

2. well, Jellyfish ripping through fishing nets would be a just and welcome development

...from this disaster. If not a form of karma...

[hatrack]

3. When you think of it in those terms . . .

Maybe not a completely disgusting, apocalyptic and predictable situation after all.

[phantom power]

4. Negative feedback!

:woohoo:

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Let's fit lasers to thier heads

[phantom power]

12. The Discovery Channel would probably fund us for that --

they could film it and run a new eco-reality show -- Jellyfish Wars. Or "Even More Deadliest Catch"

I would want Mike Rowe to narrate.

[Nihil]

10. If only they could take the fishermen with them.

K & R for one of the few types of animals that humans are
actually helping ... along with rats, disease-vector insects,
algae & slime-moulds ...

(Hmmm ... maybe this is showing a certain spiritual kinship?)

[XemaSab]

5. I, for one, welcome our new jellyfish overlords

:patriot:

[hunter]

6. Life is gonna suck when those jellyfish learn to fly.

You just wait... jellyfish start filling themselves full of hydrogen and flying. Next thing you know there's a jellyfish eating your face.

[WhiteTara]

8. you mean this?

This conversations took palce a few days ago about a new crop circle that appeared in England. Over 600 meters in length
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=245x93654

coincidence? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

9. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i59p6hC-QxE

[Canuckistanian]

11. When they say "Giant" Jellyfish, they mean it

[hatrack]

13. And the irony is that while I always liked them, I never thought they were THAT popular . . .

[TalkingDog]

14. Which is why National Propaganda Radio

has run the same segment twice in the past 6 months promoting jellyfish cuisine.

It's delicious! (no.... really!!!! :sarcasm: )

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100185758

and note the original date: This interview originally aired October 3, 2007.

[phantom power]

15. Time for Dougal Dixon to write a new book.

Where ecological niches all get filled with descendants of jellyfish.