Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea

Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea

As the world's oceans are degraded, will they be dominated by jellyfish?
By Abigail Tucker
Photographs by John Lee
Smithsonian Magazine, August 2010

From the Smithsonian:
Jellyfish Gone Wild
Enviromental Change and Jellyfish Swarms
1. 1/3 of the total weight of all life in Monterey Bay is from gelatinous animals.
2. 3 minutes after a person is stung by a deadly box jellyfish, s/he may be dead.
3. 8 years after fast-reproducing comb jellies invaded in the Black Sea, they dominated it.
4. 20 to 40 people are killed annually from box jellyfish stings in the Philippines alone.
5. 100 foot-long tentacles may dangle from the lion’s mane jelly.
6. 400 vast Dead Zones in world oceans are too polluted for almost all life except jellyfish.
7. 1,000+ fist-sized comb jellies filled each cubic meter of water in Black Sea jelly blooms.
8. 45,000 eggs may be released daily by a single jellyfish.
9. 500,000 people are stung by jellyfish in the Chesapeake Bay annually.
10. 500 million refrigerator-sized jellyfish float into the Sea of Japan daily during blooms.

Read more: Smithsonian Magazine, Summer 2010!

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