Jellyfish Invasion Bothering Beachgoers

(CBS)  In the waters off Long Beach, N.Y., swimmers aren't the only ones enjoying the surf: Jellyfish are showing up in droves.

"We were here a few weeks ago and there were a lot of jellyfish. We didn't even go in the water. It was horrible," one teen told CBS News correspondent Susan Koeppen.

And with thousands being stung by jellyfish this summer, lifeguards at Long Beach are armed with spray bottles filled with alcohol and water to take away the pain, says Koeppen.

"We didn't get these a lot years ago," says Chief Lifeguard Paul Gillespie, "but now they're, we're getting, the frequency of them a lot more. ... We've had some of them that were just (so) tremendous that we have to come and pick off the beach."

It's not just beaches seeing a problem, Koeppen points out. "During the recent New York City triathlon, thousands of competitors were stung by jellyfish in the Hudson River.

Experts say the jellyfish explosion is of global concern.

Tourism is hurting in the Mediterranean, where jellyfish seem to have taken over the waters.

"I think the level of jellyfish that we are seeing, and the fact that they outnumber the fish that we want to eat, is unprecedented," observes Margo Stiles, a marine scientist for Oceana, an organization dedicated to, as its Web site puts it, "protecting the world's oceans."

Marine biologists blame the overabundance of jellyfish on several factors, including global warming, the over-fishing of their predators, such as tuna, and pollution -- such as runoff from lawn fertilizer.

Scientists say the number of jellyfish will probably dwindle come fall but, for now, they're putting a sting in some summer fun. And the scientists predict a return of jellyfish next summer, perhaps even more of them.

[lradanovich]

Millions washed onto the beaches in California around 10 years ago!!! "The more things change, the more they stay the same"

[libertarian_]

Posted by l8c6 at 12:01 AM : Aug 03, 2008

Quote Some real and disturbing things are happening on the planet even if it seemed like a nice day to you. End Quote


%u2026Yeah its called Ignorance / Socialism / Democrats / Leftists / Progressives / Communists. Take your pick they are all virtually the same.

[libertarian_]

Posted by rf35 at 11:09 AM : Jul 31, 2008

Quote - This isn''''t new to folks who live near the warmer beaches. The thing is, natural global warming is not the biggest factor here. Overpopulation of the Earth resulting in an increased demand for food, including seafood, is at the root of this. Eat that which eats the jellyfish and you wind up with more jellyfish. Doesn''''t seem like a hard concept to wrap one''''s head around (unless one is a Neocon Republican). Overpopulation also results in the increase of the pollution that is tied into this. If people would stop having multiple kids, this problem would go away within a couple generations. One would think an intelligent species would practice responsible reproduction. We may soon see just how intelligent humans are. -End Quote -

Yeah, if only your mother had done the right thing and refrained from having you!

You enviro-nut jobs are so ridiculous. Go read the %u201Cpopulation bomb%u201D by Paul R. Ehrlich published back in 1968. The environmental wackos were wrong then and their wrong now.

Libertarian_Thinker

[downsteamjim]

Does PETA know about these lovable little animals being stranded on the beach?

[ricardo4max]

I heard that Global Warming causes hangnails and diarrhea. It may also have caused President Bush, VP Cheney and Halliburton, as well. God that Global Warming is terrible!

[emc2jc]

Killing off Coyotes, Foxes, Wolves, etc. increases mouse, vole, rabbit, etc. populations. SHAZAM!

Global Warming for 1000 Alex.

The Convinent Truth

A means for the communist of the world to eventually tax and control people on a global scale by brainwashing weak minded adults and children.

Global Warming for 500 Alex.

Mars

Another GLOBE that according to data collected by NASA, follows the same temperature pattern cycles as the planet Earth due to it''s orbit around the same star.

People don''t need some goofy trumped up global control bull to realize that pollution is bad.

OH and here ya go dunderheads:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=nasa+mars earth temp&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17977

Research for your self. Use you own mind. Don''t be a lemming!

[sunshine_25]

global warning has been going on for many years the earth goes through changes. The earth will take care of itself. We on the other hand are in trouble. The earth goes through many changes I don''t think jelly fish sre a problem they will come and go. Not really from the earth warming up. If you want to learn something interesting about the earth check out what sceince have learn about volcanos in S.America. They have learn more answers about the earth that will flip your mind. It also tells us the earth has done this before.

[luke65wky]

"Global warming has nothing to do with clean water you moron. It has to do with polluting and destroying a layer that protects us from the ozone, this happens because cars, factories and other polluting agents release particles in the air that destroy the ozone layer."

No, climate change (nobody in science calls it global warming any more) is alleged to be caused by gases that trap the heat in the atmosphere, not by gases that impact the ozone.

As for increased hurricanes, what about the many years of predicted increased hurricanes that did not happen?

Some of the climate change models are reasonable, but it is interesting that uneducated fools like you attribute every little burp on Earth to climate change. "The sky is falling in! The sky is falling in!

That is what is disturbing to most rational people: the ravings of the climate change cargo cult like you. Do you stand on the corner with a big sign saying "The End Is Near" ?

[andrew_693]

Global warming has nothing to do with clean water you moron. It has to do with polluting and destroying a layer that protects us from the ozone, this happens because cars, factories and other polluting agents release particles in the air that destroy the ozone layer. As this layer disappears , the ice caps melt and the sea level rises, creating all kinds of different phenomena, this doesn''t mean that you will notice the effects all the sudden, it is happening gradually. Unusual weather meaning, you get snowed at the end of april like it happened in texas or the artic half way melted already and probably will be gone soon. It could also mean, more droughts, more floods, more violent storms, etc....they are already thinking that they might have to add another category for hurricanes in case this happens as it is expected in the future. Even stupid Bush admitted there is a problem, just like the war in iraq.

[tommyshann-2009]

Global Warming is causing the jelly fish explosion. I am sure they heard about it on CBS, so they went out and had endless *** so they could be stylish.