Jellyfish Invasion Bothering Beachgoers
The Stinging Creatures Showing Up On Sand And In Water In Unusually High Numbers
-
Play CBS Video Video The Jellyfish Are Coming! Several factors related to human interaction may be responsible for the increasing jellyfish population. Susan Koeppen reports.
"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.
Copyright MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.





- 1
- 2
- 3
- next
See all 54 CommentsQuote 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.
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
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!
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" ?
Give global warming a rest, it is just the way jelly fish are. Weird.
Scientists say the number of jellyfish will probably dwindle (in the North East) come fall"...
And I predict that global warming will probably dwindle (in the North East) also come Fall ... ergo it''s the jellyfish causing global warming!!!
Doesn''t that sound like a bunch of horsesh*it? Yeah, it does. I''m amazed Exxon Mobile isn''t out of business by now. How do they pay their top good ol''boys 100s of millions in annual perks at that rate?
We could have another super volcano such as Lake Toba in Indonesia strike but in the mean time, we have to do the best we can and we haven''t been. There is too much scientific evidence. Besides, the U.S. needs to bring industry back into this country. The information economy isn''t cutting it. Green technology has the potential to boost the economy as well as improve the quality of life if it''s not too late. Some real and disturbing things are happening on the planet even if it seemed like a nice day to you.
Posted by edintex
No, the more jellyfish in the water the more pollution. The pollutants are from your fat a*zz pumping out rancid transfatty acids all day long into the ecosystem originating from the wide profit margin corporate fast food diet you ingest between fa*rts.
This is a favorite refrain of the left: Stop having babies, you irresponsible consumers! But in fact, the developed world (US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea) has ALREADY stopped having babies, and human populations in the cultures where life is generally peaceful, prosperous, and NOT hellish appear doomed to inexorable population decline, and general aging of the population.
But there''s good news! An aging, shrinking population is less able to defend its society against the influx of young newcomers.
Hey, just like the jellyfish!
This is a favorite refrain of the left: Stop having babies, you irresponsible consumers! But in fact, the developed world (US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea) has ALREADY stopped having babies, and human populations in the cultures where life is generally peaceful, prosperous, and NOT hellish appear doomed to inexorable population decline, and general aging of the population.
But there''s good news! An aging, shrinking population is less able to defend its society against the influx of young newcomers.
Hey, just like the jellyfish!
- 1
- 2
- 3
- next
See all 54 Comments