Follow the Jellyfish: Irish Sea Likened To A ‘Jellyfish Soup’

Sea Lace seaweed and Bladder Wrack on beach at Spanish Point, County Clare, Ireland

The Irish Sea has been likened to a ‘jellyfish soup’ by the Marine Conservation Society (MSC), which has warned beach goers and sea users that jellyfish population numbers are on the increase.
The MSC made the statement just weeks after Scotland’s Torness nuclear power station was closed when swarms of moon jellyfish blocked the facility’s water intake cooling systems
The UK-based organisation said there is strong evidence that jellyfish numbers are increasing around the world, including in Irish and UK seas.
According to the MCS’s Peter Richardson: “These increases have been linked to factors such as pollution, over-fishing and possibly climate change…We should consider jellyfish populations as important indicators of the state of our seas. Already, some areas of the UK’s seas resemble a ‘jellyfish soup’, such as the Irish Sea where large numbers of moon, lion’s mane, blue and compass jellyfish have already been reported.”
“Most jellyfish bloom in summer, but some species can survive the cool winter months too,” says MCS Biodiversity Programme Manager Peter Richardson, “This year, we received our first reports of the huge but harmless barrel jellyfish off North Wales back in early January, and this species has occurred in huge numbers in the Irish Sea and beyond ever since, with reports received from North Somerset to the Firth of Clyde. Since May we have also received reports of large numbers of several other species of jellyfish from various coastal all sites round the UK – it is another good year for the jellyfish!”, he added.

Jellyfish are the staple diet of critically endangered leatherback turtles, seasonal visitors to UK and Irish seas, which migrate from their tropical nesting beaches to feed on the islands’ abundant seasonal jellyfish blooms. Examinations of dead leatherbacks stranded on UK shores have revealed that they feed on several species of jellyfish.

By comparing the distribution of jellyfish with environmental factors such as sea temperature, plankton production and current flow, the MSC say they hope to understand what influences the seasonal distribution of jellyfish and leatherbacks in our waters. This year there have been three confirmed leatherback sightings since June, all spotted in waters off the Western Isles in Scotland where jellyfish blooms have been reported.
The MSC are currently appealing to members of the public to participate in a jellyfish survey. Over 6000 jellyfish encounters have been reported since the MCS Survey was launched in 2003. The survey data is being analysed in collaboration with the University of Exeter and early results of the public sightings show interesting differences in the distribution of the larger jellyfish species around Britain.
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From: Irishweatheronline.com

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