CNN/Reuters: Invasion of the giant jellyfish

Invasion of the giant jellyfish
Thursday, January 19, 2006


A diver is dwarfed by a giant nomura jellyfish in waters off Echizen, Japan.


TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A slimy jellyfish weighing as much as a sumo wrestler has Japan's fishing industry in the grip of its poisonous tentacles.

Vast numbers of Echizen kurage, or Nomura's jellyfish, have appeared around Japan's coast since July, clogging and ripping fishing nets and forcing fishermen to spend hours hacking them apart before bringing home their reduced catches.

Representatives of fishing communities around the country gathered in Tokyo on Thursday, hoping to thrash out solutions to a pest that has spread from the Japan Sea to the Pacific coast....

***

Spikes in population have occurred in the past, notably in 1958, but consecutive outbreaks in 2002 and 2003 prompted the government to seek reasons and solutions.

Scientists have suggested global warming might be a factor....


http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/01/19/japan.jellyfish.reut/index.html

:rofl:

WOW

?

:rofl:

That is likely the largest invertebrate EVER. Does anybody know of a larger one?

The largest giant squid ever officially documented was 59 feet long and just shy of a standard ton.

:dunce:

just pictures of Rush Limbaugh with his shirt off a few years ago?

The Democrats?

:shrug:

A lot of spineless jellyfish running around the Senate!

PB

PB

pass the soy sauce

Or the Japanese would have found a way to fish FOR them.

Ugghhhhhh

off the coast of South Carolina our shrimp nets get so full of jelly balls the winches were not strong enough to lift the catch aboard. Nets would be cut open to relieve the load. Trawling became impossible. And those were only soft ball size jelly fish.

Now and again the same thing would take place with sting rays or horseshoe crabs or conch.

Rough life straining sea water.

180

awesome. :)

the hydraulic clam dredge 'Vicky Mary' the crab boat 'Honky Dory'. Vicky Mary did duty as a small single net trawler in season.

An exciting life commercial fishing is. I crewed aboard larger trawlers and off shore snapper/grouper fishing.

I could write a book. Sigh.

180

Did those jellyfish sting you?
How about the stingrays?
The stingrays I have encountered were very soft
to the touch.

did not affect me and I never heard complaints about stinging from other fishermens.


Treatment of sting rays was very brutal. With a nail driven into the end of a stick (Broom handle) they would be speared and tossed over the side (trash fish too).

Horseshoe crabs were a special pain in the ass as the stiff tail and other appendages became hopelessly tangled in the webbing of the net.

Commercial fishing is brutal and is not for the squeamish. I was sad to leave it but also happy. Go figure.

Grouper fishing was the very worst as one must immediately gut the living fish upon surfacing and pack the warm body cavity with ice to prevent rotting. (Hey I wonder one day why is it warm in there?) Last fish I ever caught was a grouper. Enough of that I tell me.

Some fishermen made a point of killing any turtles (Loggerheads) caught up in the net. They were usually near death anyway but a compassionate man could turn the turtle on its back and give artificial respiration. (do not laugh) and no, not mouth to mouth. Turtle escape/release devices are now required on nets.

Shrimp trawling wastes far more food then one can imagine.

180

It reminds me of what Dick Cheney will look like when he is reincarnated.

Perhaps the jellyfish have teamed up with the Whales to open up a second front. Maybe the Whalers will have to return from Antarctica to battle the giant jellyfish. Personally I'm waiting for the "sumo wrestler vs. jelly-fish cage match" to be on pay-per-view.

:rofl:

these goes Tokyo.

Blobzilla!

Beautiful creature!
http://zoo.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ethol/mov/03/0310/momo031013sn01.mov


Swimming of rhizostomid medusa, Stomolophus nomurai
http://zoo.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ethol/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo031013sn01b

.