Greenzone Online

Jellyfish stings are beginning to be the song of the canary in the coal mine for our oceans. A rapid increase in jellyfish stings is illuminating a rise in jellyfish populations, which in turn is revealing the damage we’re doing to our oceans through over-fishing, global warming, and pollution.

According the International Herald Tribune, a couple weeks ago in a period of just a few hours, 300 people on Barcelona’s beaches were treated for stings, with 11 having to go to hospitals. And the number of stings in Australia last year was double the number in 2005.

Jellyfish are not only filling up their usual turf, but also spreading out to areas where they have rarely been spotted. Scientists say this is because we’re over-fishing their natural preditors, such as tuna, shark and swordfish, as well as competitors for their plankton dinners; we’re warming up the waters through global warming, which helps them breed faster and better, as well as reducing rainfall in temperate zones which increases salination closer to shore, allowing jellyfish to snuggle up to swimmers; and pollution has caused a drop in oxygen levels in costal shallows, conditions in which jellyfish can thrive while other fish die.

Beyond being dangerous and painful, jellyfish stings are a warning that we are inflicting some serious damage to the oceans that is being played out as we speak, evidenced further by what is happening to coral reefs. Perhaps the frequent stings will be a clear alarm to people that something has to change, and fast.

Via International Herald Tribune; Photo via Neil Barman