According to a recent AP article, the Nomura (the world’s largest jellyfish) is invading Japanese waters and ruining the fish that are caught. These fish become ruined when the jellyfish gets caught in the net, stinging and killing fish that are also being caught. And with millions of these jellies swarming, massive amounts of fish are being tainted. The tainted fish have caused many fisherman to stop fishing out of frustration and even the risk of danger to themselves.
These massive swarms were once considered a rarity, since they occurred roughly every 40 years. Recently however, the swarms have become a very regular occurrence, almost annual. The reason for this, scientists believe, is due to climate change. As the oceans become warmer, the jellyfish can extend their range, increase in numbers, and appear earlier in the year.
I can’t say that I sympathize much for the fisherman since they brutalize the ocean on a regular basis, but the climate change portion of this story is not to be brushed aside. Every day we hear about something else being affected by our warming climate, and eventually it will hit something we all love.
To see the full story, please visit: “Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world”
