Tracing the Puzzling Origins of Clinging Jellyfish
For such small and delicate creatures, they can pack mighty painful stings. Known as clinging jellyfish because they attach themselves to seagrasses and seaweeds, Gonionemus is found along coastlines in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in particular in waters near Vladivostok, Russia. Exactly how these jellyfish, long assumed to be native to the North Pacific, became so widely distributed throughout the world has perplexed researchers for decades. Read more
Surfers on the north coast of Scotland are being warned to watch out for mauve stinger jellyfish which packs a powerful sting. The jellyfish, more at home in Mediterranean waters, was blamed for killing off fish at a salmon farm in Northern Ireland last week. Since then, there have been sightings in Scotland, on the west and north coasts, and as far north as Unst.
More than 100,000 salmon worth over £1m have been killed in a freak jellyfish attack. It has wiped out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm and owners are now facing ruin. The massive invasion happened at Glenarm Bay and Red Bay, Cushendun, off the Co Antrim coast. Billions of small jellyfish called Mauve Stingers were involved - they stung and then stressed the salmon which were being kept in cages about a mile out into the Irish Sea. The attack lasted for nearly seven hours with the jellyfish covering a sea area of up to 10 square miles and 35ft deep.