Episode 21: Jellyfish Mysteries
Today I want to take a look at those strange-looking, gelatinous, floating blobs in the sea that often look like deflated balloons with long strings attached. In fact, this summer, beachgoers along the coast of Maine where I live, have observed some of these creatures as large as five feet in diameter, trailing tentacles as long as 100 feet.
These sea creatures are collectively known as JELLYFISH (which seems like a cute enough name) but those who are in-the-know AVOID them like the plague - because some varieties can use their tentacles to STING you with needle-sharp, mini-harpoons called nematocysts - capable of injecting a toxic venom – causing pain, often a lot of pain – that can affect your respiratory system which can be extremely dangerous – and in severe cases even cause paralysis and death in as little as 20 minutes.
These creatures, commonly known as jelly’s, are over 500 million years old – that’s right, they pre-date the dinosaurs by over 200 million years. They can be brilliantly colorful, or bio-luminscent or – completely transparent. Most of the 4000 species of jellyfish cause only pain and discomfort when they sting humans. However, Cubozoans, commonly called box jellyfish, of which some 50 species inhabit tropical and temperate seas around the globe, can be fatal.
When conditions are favorable, jellyfish can form vast swarms, which may damage fishing gear, fill fishing nets and sometimes clog power plants intakes or other systems that use water for their source of energy.
I was out sailing in Camden Maine this summer – and not too far offshore in the cold Maine waters we spotted a huge jelly known as a Lion’s Mane (for it’s shape and color) the Lion’s Mane is one of the largest jellies on the planet. Lion ManeD jellies (sometimes called sea blubbers) can sting humans. And while not deadly, it’s anything but pleasant.
Why are jellyfish important for us to know about? What are their considerable numbers in recent years telling us about the health of our oceans? And what can jelly’s tell us about the marine eco-systems? Well, quite a lot it turns out.
I had an opportunity recently to speak with Dr. Angel Yanagihara, a world-renowned biochemist, diver, a Fulbright Specialist, and the Director, of the Pacific Cnidaria (nye dare eeya) Research Lab. She is also a professor in the Békésy (bek es ee) Laboratory of Neurobiology in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her work on jellyfish - their stings and deadly venom - was also the subject of a recent NOVA Documentary. In addition, she served as the jellyfish consultant and diver on Diana Nyad’s fourth and fifth, finally successful attempt, to swim from Cuba to Key West, Florida. More about that a little later in this episode.
Dr. Yanagihara, Angel, had a very unusual start to her career in studying jellyfish and their deadly toxins. When we spoke, I had a million questions. The first one being: What was it like to be stung and nearly die from an attack by a deadly poisonous box jellyfish?