Deadly jellyfish bloom off Australia coast
By MARISSA CALLIGEROS
January 12, 2010 – 1:54PM Potentially deadly marine stingers may be blooming in unprecedented numbers off the Queensland coast, as far south as Moreton Bay. But a request by a world-leading expert to study the phenomenon has been denied by the Australian Research Council, despite mounting evidence overseas and a series of recent stingings involving species including the feared irukandji. … Dr Lisa Gershwin, touted as the world’s only jellyfish taxonomist, or species classifier, said the prevalence of marine stingers was the result of an expected cyclical jellyfish bloom. However, she said there was no quantitative data in Australia to confirm long-held suspicions that jellyfish – known as the cockroaches of the sea – were breeding in exceptional numbers in Queensland waters. … “Jellyfish can survive any perturbation, which can unbalance the (ecosystem),” she said. Chemical imbalances in the water from urban run-off, thermal water changes, pollution, over-fishing or the introduction of new aquatic species, which could drive other species to extinction, do not bother the jellyfish. “Jellyfish are basically the last man left standing. You see a very bad situation – like a domino effect – where you get a little bit of a wobble in the system, and jellyfish get a bit of a toe-hold, and they can out-compete other species for food and they can actually prey on other species, or the larvae of other species.” …
