Japan braced for monster jellyfish invasion
In a storyline apparently lifted straight from the plot of a Godzilla movie, fishermen along Japan’s northern coastline have been warned to prepare for a “massive” invasion of giant-sized toxic jellyfish.
When Nomura’s jellyfish – which can grow up to two meters in diameter and weigh 200 kilograms – last arrived on Japanese shores in 2005 they caused havoc for the local fishing industry, destroying nets, poisoning fish with their toxic stings and injuring fishermen.
Experts are unsure why some years bring thousands of the cnidarian creatures across the Sea of Japan from their breeding grounds in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.
But they do know that the frequency of jellyfish invasions – which occurred around just once every 40 years during the 19th century – is increasing, possibly because of a growing population caused by a decline in the number of predators such as sea turtles and certain fish.
