Jellyfish Blooms

I grew up here in BC, and in my time I’ve seen my share of jellyfish. Mostly we saw the white ones, which are harmless. I remember the swimming area off the dock at summer camp was just lousy with them. I also remember hearing lots of warnings about red jellyfish, because they sting, however I’d never actually seen one. Until this summer, at least, when I saw many of them. Most were dead, washed up on shore at high tide and left to disintegrate on the rocks and sand. I saw them on a couple of beaches, too, separated by at least 50 miles.

This made me wonder – what’s up with the jellyfish? Why so many this year? Is it a natural cycle, or does it mean something? Or, am I just imagining that I am seeing more? I decided to do a little bit of research to see what I could find.

Dead jelly number one

It seems like I am not imagining things. Or, at least, that the population of jellyfish is actually increasing. Jellyfish blooms, in which lots of jellies suddenly appear, are on the rise in our oceans. Scientists don’t know why, exactly, but there are likely several contributing factors. Some possible culprits include:

Dead jelly number two

There is still a lot that scientists don’t know about jellyfish. These are ancient creatures who have lived in our seas for over 650 million years. And their population does seem to ebb and flow. While it is clear that increasing numbers of jellies indicate that something is changing, it is not entirely clear exactly how and when those changes cause the superabundance of jellyfish.

I thought that maybe our warm summer is behind the jellyfish showing up on beaches. And it sounds like it might be, but other factors may also be at play. All that I know is that after seeing all of those squishy masses I do not feel much like swimming. Not at all. I’ve never experienced a jellyfish sting, and I’m not keen to try it. Although if it does ever happen, I am glad to know that urine does not actually neutralize the sting, in spite of what I may have learned on Friends.