jellyfishing with plankton

if you are a fan of spongebob-and i know you are- take a ride on the schooner 'alliance' to learn about jellyfish and zooplankton in the chesapeake: i'm ready!

jellyfish sandwich

i am sure i am not the only one who noticed all of the mini jellyfish everywhere in the bay and the big ones on the beaches this past hot, hot weekend. i was just thinking how i had not seen any since earlier in the spring- but then i remembered i wasnt in or on the water very much the last few weekends because of heat and/or storms.

no swimming for a while, but maybe a jellyfish sandwich is in order.

the jellyfish are here!

little rain and above average temperatures have brought in an early crop of jellies. fresh water creates a natural barrier against the gelatinous sea creatures, so i hope it rains a lot on days i am not fishing.

nomura's jellyfish capsizes fishing boat

a japanese fishing trawler capsized when its three-man crew tried to haul in a net containing dozens of huge nomura's jellyfish: they were rescued by another trawler. the local coast guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.
relatively little is known about this huge jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the sea of japan on the tsushima current: 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment was reported in 2007. in 2008 there were virtually no sightings. experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of china, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months. they also 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.
hope they dont make it to the chesapeake anytime soon!

giant jellyfish invasion

i thought we had it bad in the chesapeake, but japanese fishermen have been overrun by Echizen jellyfish who are taking advantage of the over-fished waters.