Environment

Nomura's Jellyfish Capsize Japanese Trawler

by Jordan Yerman | November 2, 2009 at 08:48 am

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A Japanese trawler capsized while trying to haul in a smack of Nomura's jellyfish. Nomura's jellyfish are massive creatures weighing over 400 pounds, and have begun crowding the Sea of Japan. The three crewmembers of the Daisan Shinsho-maru were rescued by another vessel.

Now it has drifted into the Sea of Japan, and brought down the Diasan Shinsho-maru. One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the Nomura's jellyfish can grow up to 6 feet in diameter and weigh as much as 400 pounds.

Nobody knows why the Nomura's jellyfish are showing up in such large numbers, but they're playing havoc with the seafaring economy: they destroy fishing nets, kill fish, and even clog the cooling ducts on nuclear reactors.

“The arrival is inevitable,” Professor Shinichi Ue, from Hiroshima University, told the Yomiuri newspaper. “A huge jellyfish typhoon will hit the country.”