Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Millions of Jellyfish Invade Nuclear Reactors

Posted by timothy on from the what-we-need-is-a-good-jellyfish-recipe dept.

oxide7 writes "A nuclear reactor in Japan was forced to shut down due to infiltration of enormous swarms of jellyfish near the power plant. A similar incident was also reported recently in Israel, when millions of jellyfish clogged the sea-water cooling system of a power plant."

6 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. Sayonara Fishies by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    We over-fished the oceans, and now jellyfish have all that extra food available to themselves to grow like weeds. Don't act surprised.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. Also the reactor in Torness, Scotland. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Torness reactor was shut down on June 28th because jellyfish clogged the seawater inlet filters.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/30/jellyfish-shut-nuclear-reactors-torness

  3. Re:Jellyfish love global warming by zill · · Score: 5, Informative

    Furthermore, Jellyfish are also nearly nutrition-less so people do not try to catch them.

    Most Asian cuisines have Jellyfish dishes. Some US fisheries even export Jellyfish to Asian countries.

  4. Re:Jellyfish love global warming by anagama · · Score: 4, Informative
    I was with you up to the last point.

    When carbon dioxide dissolves in this ocean, carbonic acid is formed. This leads to higher acidity, mainly near the surface, which has been proven to inhibit shell growth in marine animals and is suspected as a cause of reproductive disorders in some fish.
    ...
    The oceans currently absorb about a third of human-created CO2 emissions, roughly 22 million tons a day. Projections based on these numbers show that by the end of this century, continued emissions could reduce ocean pH by another 0.5 units. Shell-forming animals including corals, oysters, shrimp, lobster, many planktonic organisms, and even some fish species could be gravely affected.

    http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-ocean-acidification/

    --
    What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  5. Re:Jellyfish love global warming by Guppy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Most Asian cuisines have Jellyfish dishes. Some US fisheries even export Jellyfish to Asian countries.

    The problem is, preparation of Jellyfish for food is very time and labor intensive, due to the absurdly high water content that needs to be dealt with. Asians eat it, but not as a major dietary protein source like fish. So while it may support some small Jellyfisheries, there will never be huge fleets capable of making a dent in their populations.

  6. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Cool story bro

    Your story would go over better if it were not so obviously fabricated.
    1) Deep waters welders: We almost always wear dry suits not wet suits.
    2) When we do wear wetsuits (short shallow dives in warm water) we want the water in our suit to remain constant because our body heat warms it up and it is trapped inside the suit providing insulation. You would be stupid to break your seal to pump in other water as you would loose body heat that way.