Slashdot Mirror
Swarm of Giant Jellyfish Capsize 10-Ton Trawler
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that the Japanese trawler Diasan Shinsho-maru has capsized off the coast of China, as its three-man crew dragged their net through a swarm of giant jellyfish (which can grow up to six feet in diameter and travel in packs) and tried to haul up a net that was too heavy. The crew was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler. Relatively little is known about Nomura's jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the Sea of Japan on the Tsushima Current, but last year there were virtually no sightings. In 2007, there were 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment caused by the creatures. Experts believe that one contributing factor to the jellyfish becoming more frequent visitors to Japanese waters may be a decline in the number of predators, which include sea turtles and certain species of fish. 'Jellies have likely swum and swarmed in our seas for over 600 million years,' says scientist Monty Graham of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. 'When conditions are right, jelly swarms can form quickly. They appear to do this for sexual reproduction.'"
The boat turned turtle off the coast of Chiba, which is a Japanese port, rather than the coast of China. TFA did mention that the jellyfish's breeding location is off the Chinese coast though.
Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
> As opposed to what? Cloning?
Well, yes, actually. Jellyfish reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
As opposed to what? Cloning?
Actually, yes. Jellyfish normally asexually reproduce; essentially cloning. They can also sexually reproduce.
"unless somebody doesn't actually know that troll and trawl do mean exactly the same thing in this case?"
Incorrect. Trawling is done using a net, typically in the open ocean. It scoops up a lot of different crap, as the fishermen found out.
Trolling is done with a hook and lure/bait. The slow forward motion of the boat makes the lure or bait appear to be alive, or the movement attracts the fish's eye.
Just a fun fact.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
In the Chesapeake Bay, jellyfish populations are proportional to pollution. Pollution kills the turtles that eat the jellyfish eggs and feeds the jellies. They don't mind the cruddy water.