Blog Post #3: Solutions to Jellyfish Overpopulation

Tackling the Jellyfish Bloom

So jellyfish are blooming all over the globe and it affects every nation, every person, and every creature in a negative way; it even affects the Earth. But what is a solution to this problem and are scientists even doing anything to tackle it? 

In "JEROS Jellyfish Eliminating Robot can Pulverize 400kg of Jellyfish an Hour", Matthew Humphries, a news writer and senior editor for Geek.com and game designer, says "a research team led by Professor Myung Hyun at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has created a robot to do the job for us." One solution to this problem is JEROS (Jellyfish Elimination Robotic Swarm), which are robots that go out in a group of three to kill these jellyfish. The way this is done is by a GPS system and a camera in these robots that will track swarms of jellyfish and literally suck them up into a propeller and shred them into bits and pieces. 

3 JEROS searching for jellyfish to shred.
By Fincher, Jonothan | Gizmag.com

The robots are also able to kill off 2,000 pounds of jellyfish an hour and scientists say they can also be used for cleaning up marine waste in the ocean. Although this method of dealing with the problem may sound harsh, it's something scientists must do in order to prevent losing even more money when the jellyfish close down beaches, injure people, and shut down nuclear power plants. This test of jellyfish killing robots proved to actually be successful in Korea and will be commercialized in April of 2014. 

Another way of tackling this problem, and sounds more efficient, is farming jellyfish. RR Helm explains how farming jellyfish by removing salt from an area of overpopulation will turn these jellies into mulch, which is a material people spread over plants to enrich the soil. It can also be used to fertilize rice fields and its proven that rice grows more efficiently with jelly mulch. With this solution put into action, there will also be more jobs created and rice for people to eat. 

One final solution to jellyfish overpopulation is increasing the number of filefish in overpopulated areas. Filefish are natural predators of jellyfish and when scientists did a research on this, they found that there was a decrease in jellyfish once filefish were put into the water. Although this is another solution, it hasn't been too successful because filefish raised in captivity didn't have the same aggressiveness as those that were wild, so some even fled from jellyfish rather than eat them. 

With all these solutions made up and experimented with, we can all benefit from this. I personally like the idea of farming jellyfish because it will create new jobs and more food for people. Moreover, jellyfish will not invade nuclear power plants harm fisheries as bad as they used to. 

References

Gizmag. 3 JEROS searching for jellyfish to shred. Photograph. 2013. Robots exchange information about their locations to ensure they remain spaced apart evenly. Web. 14 April 2014. <http://www.gizmag.com/jellyfish-shredding-jeros-robots-dispatched-to-korea/29307/> 

Helm, RR. "Jelly Killing Machine Tested in Korea." Deepseanews, 3 October 2013. Web. 14 April 2014. 

Humphries, Matthew. "JEROS Jellyfish Elimination Robot can Pulverize 400kg of Jellyfish in an Hour." Geek, 5 October 2013. Web. 14 April 2014.

Severns, Maggie. "Watch: Robots That Hunt Down Jellyfish and Destroy Them." Motherjones, 3 March 2013. Web. 14 April 2014.

Kwon Jahyeon. "Benefit-Cost Analysis of Eliminating the Jellyfish by the Natural Predator in Korean Coastals" Amgs.or.kr, N/A. Web. 14 April 2014. 

Blog Post #2: Who is affected by the overpopulation of jellyfish?

Jellyfish vs. Humans: Who's at Stake?

You may think that the overpopulation of jellyfish only affects people such as fishermen or people that live close to the ocean or bay, but it actually affects everybody. The US, Japan, China, and many other countries are negatively affected by jellyfish and here's why.

Think of the food that you've been eating during the past few weeks or month. If fish or shrimp was your answer, then the jellyfish bloom probably affects you. In "Eventually, jellyfish might rule the world. What should the art world do about it?", Damon Young (2014), an Australian Philosopher, writer, and commentator, states "A billion people get their protein from fish, and half a billion people are financially reliant on the fishing industry" (par. 7)

A large amount of people in the world buy fish such as body builders because it's a rich source or protein, owners of restaurants and buffets need them to serve people, and the average person needs it just to stay healthy, but the jellyfish swarm kills so many sea creatures in a number of ways; they sting them,  it consumes most of the plankton in the sea which in turn kills small fishes that need food, and it suffocates fish, such as salmon, by forcing them to breathe in mucus that contains stinging cells. 

Jellyfish swarm in the Sea of Japan.
By Taniguchi, Niu Fisheries Cooperative | Discovery.com
 

This killing of fish will devastate many fishing industries because all they will be catching are jellyfish, small amounts of fish, or nothing at all. In 2005, the Sea of Japan was overpopulated with jellyfish and the fishery in that area lost 30 billion yen which equates to a bit less than 300 million dollars. There is a continuous cycle of fish being sold in different countries and that's how money is made for these fisheries, but if all they catch are small amounts of fish then they won't be making enough to keep the business going and on top of that, it will hurt the super markets that sell fish to people. And this is how many countries are affected by these evil, harmless looking sea creatures. 

When was the last time you or any of your friends and family went to the beach? I'm pretty sure you know somebody and this overpopulation affects those who go to beaches. In "Jellyfish Overpopulation - A Threat To The Oceans", Celia (2009) asserts that the reason why jellyfish are blooming in many areas of the sea such as beaches is because of over-fishing, which creates vast space for jellyfish to migrate to, and human activities that pollutes the waters (par. 1). 

Jellyfish washed up on Cocoa Beach, Florida
By CNN | CNN.com

With summer coming in, hot weather breaking out, there is bound to be jellyfish floating around in beaches such as Florida, Hawaii, and Australia. These things keep vacationers from enjoying their precious  time at a resort beach because lifeguards would have to close them down and they pose a threat of stinging people and having a chance of killing them.

If you haven't heard, there was a jellyfish clogging in the pipes of Sweden which caused the nuclear power plant to shut down. And this isn't the only time they've done it; jellyfish have clogged other nuclear plants around the world. If you're wondering why it affects us, ask yourself how it would feel to live without electricity. 

These nuclear power plants are needed to provide us electricity for our homes and ovens to cook, and without it, it would simply be a black out. The jellyfish clogging in Sweden caused the power plant to shut down for a couple days, so that means people weren't able to cook anything until the reactor was fixed. 

References

Editor of Fabius Maximus Website. " 'Water-Borne Zombies' - Jellyfish warning us to behave better" FabiusMaximus, 5 March 2014. Web. 25 March 2014.

CNN. Jellyfish washed up on shore of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Photograph. 2011. 1,600-plus Florida beachgoers stung by jellyfish, official says. Web. 25 March 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/31/florida.jellyfish/>

McCulley, Janet. Jellyfish swarm in the Sea of Japan. Photograph. 2003. Gigantic Jellyfish Invade the Sea of Japan. discovery. Web. 24 March 2014. <http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2009/07/gigantic-jellyfish-invade-the-sea-of-japan.html>

McVeigh, Tracy. "Explosion in jellyfish numbers may lead to ecological disaster, warn scientists." Theguardian, 11 June 2011. Web. 24 March 2014.

N.A. "Jellyfish clog pipes of Swedish nuclear reactor forcing plant shutdown." TheGuardian. 1 October 2013. Web. 25 March 2014.

Stone, Richard. "Massive Outbreak of Jellyfish Could Spell Trouble for Fisheries." yale, 13 January 2011. Web. 25 March 2014.

Young, Damon. "Eventually, jellyfish might rule the world. What should the art world do about it?." Theguardian, 18 February 2014. Web. 24 March 2014.

Blog Post #1: Overpopulation of Jellyfish

The Overpopulation of Jellyfish

Jellyfish overpopulation is becoming a crisis and effects many parts of the world in a negative way; it causes shut downs of nuclear power plants, stings people on vacation beaches because it's washed up onto shore, and destroys fisheries.

Japanese fishermen try to haul up fish but end up with large amounts of jellyfish and ripped nets. AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa

Why is there all of a sudden an overpopulation of jellyfish? It's because of us. We make the temperature of the water perfectly fit for jellyfish because of undersea constructions and human-caused warming,also well known as a worldwide issue, global warming.

Examples of undersea constructions would be oil rigs, gas rigs, and harbors. Jellyfish use these offshore platforms as nesting grounds in order to live. I am not saying that we should get rid of these platforms because we obviously need oil rigs to fill our cars and other necessities, but maybe find solutions to move them somewhere else. It's because of these platforms and warm temperatures that many types of jellyfish tend to migrate and overpopulate those areas.

According to spigotsciencemag, "When air or water pollution causes ocean changes, the plankton population increases." (Cochran 2011) If the plankton population increases, more jellyfish will migrate to that area because that is mainly what they eat.

One of the main and most crucial problems with overpopulation of jellyfish is the clogging of nuclear pipes. The moon jellyfish is the culprit for clogging up one of the largest plants in the world, The Stockholm's Oskarshamn plant located in Sweden, and what makes things worse is that they're able to migrate and adapt to extreme conditions whether there are no fish in the sea to eat, there's algae all over the water, or basically just bad pollution. And this isn't the only time that jellyfish have clogged pipes; it happened in Diablo Canyon inCalifornia, Eastern parts of US, Northern Ireland, The Black Sea,Japan, and other areas of the world. Because of the tragedy in Sweden, the nation lost 5% of its power supply until the pipes were fully cleaned. People nowadays can barely survive a day without their phone, imagine losing your phone, computer, and light for a few days!

Parts of the world where Jellyfish have spread and harmed. Designed by iDROBUX from The Noun Project, Ritchi King | Quartz | qz.com

Jellyfish washes up onto the sand of beaches. I saw many dead jellyfish buried in the sand of Ocean Beach, CA where the fog and water is freezing. Knowing that jellyfish love warm waters, now you can visualize how much worse it would be in other beaches such as Florida or Australia, beautiful beaches with tourists all over.

In Daytona Beach, Florida, a swarm of box jellyfish stung around 200 people. According to Ange lYanagihara, a professor in tropical medicine at the University of Hawaii, she says that there have been more deaths due to jellyfish compared to sharks.

In the summer of 2013, there were millions of jellyfish sprawled across the coastline of the Mediterranean which prevented tourists from getting in the water or even on the beach. And each summer, 150,000 people are treated for jellyfish stings in this area.

Jellyfish also causes the death of many fish which in turn makes it worse for fishermen. The comb jellyfish in the Black Sea killed a $350 million fishing industry. The mauve stinger jellyfish killed 100,000 salmon on Northern Ireland's only salmon farm. A 10 ton boat in japan was tipped over on its side when it tried hauling up a net full of Nomura jellyfish. Do you see how harmful these animals can be? And can you see the problems we can face because of the overpopulation of jellyfish?

References

Brougher, Jessie. "Jellyfish of the Florida Keys and Bahamas." JRscience, 15 May 2009. Web. 15 February 2014.

Guilford, Gwynn. “Jellyfish are taking over the seas, and it might be too late to stop them.” Quartz, 15 October 2013. Web. 15 February 2014.

Kurokawa, Junji. Jellyfish invading fishermen sites. Photograph. n.d. Jellyfish are taking over the seas, and it might be too late to stop them. qz.web. 15 February 2014. <http://qz.com/133251/jellyfish-are-taking-over-the-seas-and-it-might-be-too-late-to-stop-them/>

Kurokawa, Junji. Jellyfish statistics. Photograph. n.d. Jellyfish are taking over the seas, and it might be too late to stop them. qz.web. 15 February 2014. <http://qz.com/133251/jellyfish-are-taking-over-the-seas-and-it-might-be-too-late-to-stop-them/>

Merchant, Brian. "Jellyfish are clogging up nuclear power plants around the world." Motherboard.vice, n.d. Web. 14 February 2014.

O'Mara, Kelly. "Jellyfish are wreaking havoc on tourist areas." travel.yahoo, 24 October 2013. Web. 15 February 2014.

Subbaraman, Nidhi. "The jellyfish are coming! Experts tangle with exploding population." NBCnews, 7 October. Web. 15 February 2014.