Page 65 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - August/September 2017

Thank You Dad & Mom! 65

The Global Jellyfish Crisis in Perspective

Seen from high above, a jellyfish bloom is a
single mass, a brushstroke on the ocean’s vast
surface. Zoom in closer and the streaks begin to
resolve themselves, separating into hundreds of
individual pulsing forms that resemble animated
contact lenses with the transparency of grocery
bags. Closer still and details begin to emerge—a
symmetric floral pattern in the center of each
lens, a fringe of hairlike filaments ringing the
edge. Plunge through the swarm of jellies and
the bloom transforms again, into a forest of
fringed tentacles borne by an undulating, milky
canopy. From different angles, jellyfish blooms
are at once beautiful, disastrous, neatly
assembled, and out of control.
Although the term “jellyfish” implies a
monolithic group of organisms, the name
actually encompasses a broad swath of marine
life. Thousands of species fall under the jellyfish
umbrella, similar only in their basic body
composition and tendency in undergoing sudden
immortality by turning back into a polyp — a the ocean of oxygen, creating “dead zones.”
population booms. Some scientists use the term
less mature version of itself — when injured. Most marine life can’t survive in an oxygen-
“gelatinous zooplankton” to more accurately
The polyp can then produce identical copies of deprived environment — except for jellyfish.
capture the group’s diversity. There are parasitic
the injured jelly and the jelly can revert back to Bloodless and brainless, jellyfish are able to
jellies, jellies that hunt in the water column, and
jellies that are anchored to the sea floor. The the polyp again and again, indefinitely. exist with very little oxygen. Far from
man o’ war—with its multicolored, balloon-like Given this formidable combination of inhospitable, dead zones become competition-
sail and ability to sting long after death—isn’t traits, it’s surprising that jellyfish haven’t free plankton buffets. Once jellies take over,
already taken over the world. Until now, they’ve their tendency to consume fish larvae makes it
even a single organism, but a colony of co-
been kept in check by marine predators, which difficult for other species to re-colonize the area
dependent creatures with separate functions.
eat jellies and their food sources. Seabirds, sea even after oxygen levels return to normal.
The elegant efficiency of the jellyfish’s
turtles, marine mammals, fish, and even other In recent years, Japan has been living
structure may be one reason for the group’s
jellyfish have developed methods for this jellyfish-saturated vision of the future. Early
diversity. Jellyfish bodies are at least 95% water;
overcoming the jellies’ defensive stings to take in the twenty-first century, blooms of massive
the remaining 5% or so contains the barest
essentials needed to capture, consume, and use advantage of the abundant, accessible food Nomura’s jellyfish suddenly began occurring
energy. Their method of locomotion, an elastic source that they are. Just as populations of annually, whereas they used to only happen once
ring that contracts to rapidly expel water and rodents boom when top predators are removed every forty years. (Authorities blamed the
from their ecosystems, overfishing of predatory sudden uptick in jellyfish abundance on
propel the jelly forward, allows them to move
species such as tuna can result in population agricultural runoff from neighboring China,
more efficiently than any other organism. Their
increases further down the food chain. With which may have provided favorable conditions
trailing tentacles brush against prey,
many of their predators in decline, jellies are for jellies to spawn.) Six feet wide and packing
immobilizing them and conveying them to the
freed from the predation and competition that a brutal sting, the jellies clogged fishing nets,
jellyfish’s mouth — after which the jelly digests
its prey in its body cavity and subsequently otherwise keep them in check. devastated fish populations both in farms and in
expels the remaining parts of the prey through Meanwhile, jellyfish are uniquely poised the wild, and even caused a trawler to capsize.
the same single opening. to benefit from changing ocean conditions. Japanese scientists and entrepreneurs
The lack of complex physical features Jellyfish can lie as polyps on the ocean floor for scrambled for solutions. Killing the jellies was
years, spawning only when conditions are out of the question because the jellies would
makes jellies extremely adaptable and the things
favorable. Higher ocean temperatures mean that then release eggs, which, in turn, could create
that restrict other marine animals—such as
reproductive conditions that formerly occurred new spawning areas. Jellies are edible but not
temperature, acidity, salinity, light, or
once every few decades now occur more appealing to eat. Medical uses have yet to be
darkness—don’t faze them. They combine
frequently. And then there’s the issue of oxygen. found. As a last resort, they could theoretically
plantlike simplicity, animal-like mobility, and an
almost bacterial ability to reproduce rapidly In many parts of the ocean, high concentrations be reconstituted to fertilizer.
under favorable conditions. There’s even a of agricultural nutrients cause plankton to grow
species of jellyfish that achieves near- explosively. This, in turn, depletes some areas of (Continued on Page 69)