More than 6 ft 7 inches wide, over 450 lbs…while it may sound more like a sumo wrestler description we’re actually talking about the Giant Jellyfish or Nomura’s Jellyfish (Echizen kurage in Japanese) found lurking in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. No stranger to Japanese waters, these massive creatures have been known to invade Japan’s coastline in swarms bought in by ocean currents and potentially cause severe losses to Japan’s Billion Yen fishing industry.
Giant jellyfish are one of about 200 species of coastal jellyfish or large jellyfish that exist around the world. Nomura’s stand out because of their enormous size. Quite a spectacle for divers, the pink jelly like mass with seemingly countless tentacles is in fact poisonous like all jellyfish. An Echizen’s sting can be fatal, causing a build-up of fluid in the lungs. Victims take up to a day to die and there have been 8 reported deaths from this particular type of jellyfish.
*Photo credit: YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AFP/Getty Images
The news of such an invasion of Nomura’s jellyfish may bring a smile to a divers face and is often much awaited by scientists to study, local fishermen however, are not impressed. In 2005, the Japanese fishing industry reported an estimated 300 to 500 million monster jellyfish to have passed through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan. The jellyfish destroy fishermen’s nets, getting trapped in them, tearing holes and ruining catches. Their size often compared to that of sumo wrestlers, it only takes about 5 or 10 of them to destroy a commercial fishing net. In addition to damaging nets, the giant jellyfish are said to be responsible for killing other fish in the catch with their venom, capsizing trawlers and stinging fishermen much to the nightmare of fishermen.
Similar invasions have previously been reported in 2002, 2005, 2008 and now 2009 becoming an increasing regular nuisance. Some theories surrounding the skyrocketing numbers of the giant jellyfish include, overfishing in Chinese waters decreasing the populations of the jellyfishes natural predators, development of ports and harbours along the Chinese coast providing more structures for the Nomura larvae to attach themselves to and thirdly, global warming which causes the heating up of the seawater and encourages jellyfish breeding. No definite cause has been identified but studies are being undertaken to find out, while precautions to decrease the damage they cause are in full force.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
pictures are really good,What a very good creature however the jellyfish should be taken picture alone, the diver’s with it only distruct the scene. We wnat the beauty of nature in it, the presence of the divers made me heat the pics.
I disagree. The divers are important for scale. If it weren’t for them, we would be unable to tell just HOW large the jellyfish are.
these pictures are truly AMAZING! I have never seen sea jellies so large. I may need to introduce them to my students this fall, I teach biology.
How exactly does a JELLYfish tear up a net? And don’t the Japanese just eat them,like the whales killed for “scientific” purposes?
I happen to agree with James. The Japanese Fishing Industry, and China’s as well, is a sorry place for any animal.
We all must do what we can to help them!
Sounds a bit like nature strikes back? There will always be an impact from man’s activities, the jelly fish’s natural predators decline – probably through fishing or pollution or global warming – the same people who caused those problems start to struggle with the result – floods, storms, heatwaves – Giant jellyfish – poetic justice…..
Wow! People blame everything on “Global Warming”. Amazing how, even without a deacent shred evidence, we assume global warming is taking place and attribute all sorts of things to it!
Meanwhile, sitting here in one of the coldest winter seasons recorded. Remembering last summer that was the coolest summer I ever remember. Come to think of it, the past several winters have been quite on the cold side.
Global warming my foot!
Global warming affects worldwide weather patterns. No one ever told you it was going to get warmer in your corner of the globe. As the earth warms, storms become stronger – stronger weather means hotter, colder, and more severe weather on both sides of the table. Try to think outside of your own box.
you cant tell scale from the divers because if you look they are all behind the jellyfish and you cant tell by how much the jellyfish could be size of a quarter and just be really close to the camera
far out thats a sight to behold, but man if you were too be up close to that thing it would make you **** yourself
Global warming denial is pretty weak. but anyway, I think I would like to eat one of these jellyfish. If you cut off the tentacles and soak the big jelly disk in vinegar, will it neutralize any remaining nematocysts? Look at the food source potential.
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