Imperial jellyfish to invade UK, swimmers advised to freak out
The four foot long Rootmouth jelly fish that washed up on the north coast of Devon this week, one of the biggest ever found in Britain, was a novelty.
But antisocial 'gangs' of jellyfish could become run-of-the-mill in these parts if climate change gets its way, according to a study published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. ('Antisocial' defined here as the tendency to sting unprotected swimmers, devastate commercial fish populations and even cripple power plants by clogging water pipes.)
The study, 'The Jellyfish Joyride', reports that warmer seas generate swarms of jellyfish because they grow much more quickly when it's hot. Jellyfish might even be one of the few organisms that will thrive if, as some scientists believe, climate change 'acidifies' the seawater.
What's more, climate change is a ticket to ride: the ocean currents that jellyfish drift upon are changing and allowing venomous species like the deadly Australian sea wasp to set up camp in new parts of the world. Colonial animals? Imperial, more like.
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