Draft Dodger
10-21-2003, 12:19 PM
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7617736^1702,00.html
THOUSANDS of giant jellyfish, some with caps as big as the boot of a car, have appeared off Japan's west coast for the second straight year, entangling themselves in fishing nets, an official said today.
Since mid-September, the jellyfish, spanning more than a metre in width and weighing 100kg, have been found in the Japan Sea off the coast of Echizen, Fukui prefecture, said Katashi Sugimoto, a prefectural fisheries official.
The last time the jellyfish turned up along Japan's coast for a second consecutive year was in 1995, he said. The only other time was in 1958.
Scientists say the species, identified as stomolophus nomurai, was first discovered in the East China Sea.
It's unclear why the jellyfish began appearing sporadically in the Japan Sea, between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, from 1920, though scientists believe rising water temperatures are to blame.
THOUSANDS of giant jellyfish, some with caps as big as the boot of a car, have appeared off Japan's west coast for the second straight year, entangling themselves in fishing nets, an official said today.
Since mid-September, the jellyfish, spanning more than a metre in width and weighing 100kg, have been found in the Japan Sea off the coast of Echizen, Fukui prefecture, said Katashi Sugimoto, a prefectural fisheries official.
The last time the jellyfish turned up along Japan's coast for a second consecutive year was in 1995, he said. The only other time was in 1958.
Scientists say the species, identified as stomolophus nomurai, was first discovered in the East China Sea.
It's unclear why the jellyfish began appearing sporadically in the Japan Sea, between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, from 1920, though scientists believe rising water temperatures are to blame.