'Wallpaper of jellyfish' wash up on Moreton Bay beach
A beach north of Brisbane is covered in blue blubber jellyfish, with one marine biologist saying it is the biggest stranding she has ever seen.
There was no sand in sight at Deception Bay on the weekend when thousands of jellyfish stranded themselves, in what is known as a bloom.
Marine biologist Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin, who specialises in jellyfish, said the bloom was the biggest she had seen in her 25 years of research.
"I can honestly say it's the most incredible stranding I've seen anywhere — and I've seen a lot of strandings ... just gobsmacking," she said.
"Jellyfish bloom is part of their lifecycle and if the winds blow just right and if the water level falls with the tide, then they get stranded.
"We see jellyfish bloom, but not like this, this is jaw dropping."
Dr Gershwin described the sight as "a wallpaper of jellyfish. I've never seen them that close together," she said.
"I can't imagine what they would look like in the water, for them to have stranded that close together."
Stranding not a concern for local ecosystem
The common blue blubber jellyfish, Catostylus mosaicus, grows to 35 centimetres in diameter and does not usually cause serious harm to humans.
"They are really common in south-east Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria," Dr Gershwin told ABC Radio Brisbane's Steve Austin.
"The stranding isn't a great concern for the ecosystem as they will dry out and we won't even know they're there in a week.
"It's a good thing for birds and turtles who will eat them."
She believed the combination of northerly winds and tide conditions caused the jellyfish to bloom like this.
"They don't beach themselves like some animals — jellyfish don't do that," Dr Gershwin said.
"They can't breathe out of water, but they do need water around them to have oxygen diffused across their skin.
"They also need water to support their body so it doesn't cave in on itself." //JESSICA HINCHLIFFE
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
I wonder if they can be harvested and used as a resource? Fertiliser, fish food?
We all wonder the same zenagain!
(Highly Recommend)
Courier Mail March 27, 2015 ( by Kathleen Donaghey)
'Jellyfish plague has upside for use in cooking,cleaning products'.
This El Nino is so absorbing record Temps upon last years record Temps of record heatwaves hotter than last weeks record heat wave.
Cyclones reckon it's too hot to get all wound up about it!
Always the northerlies whippin' up Electrical storms with record lightning strikes. Seacreatures now call air/con canal homes home.
Counting jellies by the score! Them too.... in plague proportion more.
Box jellies as pets! Never say local vets.
Avoid height of summer warm shallow sundrenched nooks of N/W facing Island shores.
These warm nooks are also favoured by Morbakka.(near invisible) Moreton Bay Box Jelly.
Ms Donaghey's article is well researched and bewildering.
*See JellyRat (WTF)
Asian delicacy Jellyfish must stay fresh for top dollar $75/kg.
Dried/salted & packed Jellies sell for $4 /kg.
I was stung by the fact that Jellyfish are winning Nuclear Tentacle Race!
Hooroo!
One thing i don't miss about the east coast is these things.
I remember one time pulling up to early morning empty Crecent head and it was actually lining up and looked super fun, i paddled out only to find the water was full of these things paddling was a nightmare and even when on a wave my fins and leggy were hitting them causing drag and speed hump like effect.
Also paddling across the seaway to Straddie, nothing worse than banging into these things when all you are thinking about is men in grey suits.
Yes, you would think a bloom of these could be useful, like mounds of seaweed on the beach. But given they are mainly about 90% water, there is little in the way of fertiliser. Maybe one day, there might be a use for the stingers. Thy tend to spook people out and get in the way.
They also started to Sting last season. Not sure whether it was lice hitching a ride on tentacles or the jelly fish itself. Have not seen very many in tweed river compared to last year but water only really warmed right up constantly last week. Big school of jewfish out front of my place at moment. Good snorkelling on full tide.
Those things have always stung, just not very strong or painful. I remember reading a newspaper article about it 20 years ago, reckoned a lot of what people think are sea lice are frequently just discarded stings from these things. They are commonly chopped up in boat props and the stings release as little lone things.
I was once out with a mate at maroochy and he lobbed one at me from about 6 or 8 metres away. a big arcing throw that landed about a metre short. I laughed as it sploshed into the water right next to me, haha you missed ya bastard!
And then it rained stings all over my face and arms! We both burst out laughing but I was hunched over til the needle storm passed.
I had a similar experience one summer when a mate threw one at me at South Strad, landing square on my chest. Cue firestorm that I never really recovered from that session. In response, back at the carpark I removed his windscreen wiper rubbers which, in the middle of a QLD summer, was soon revealed to be a master stroke when days later he was stuck on the side of the Gold Coast highway for half an hour in a thunderstorm.