Gwendolyn sends along a bizarre story from Northern Ireland:
The only salmon farm in Northern Ireland has lost its entire population of more than 100,000 fish, worth some $2 million, to a spectacular jellyfish attack, its owners said Wednesday.
The Northern Salmon Co. Ltd. said billions of jellyfish–in a dense pack of about 10 square miles and 35 feet deep–overwhelmed the fish last week in two net pens about a mile off the coast of the Glens of Antrim, north of Belfast.
Managing director John Russell said the company’s dozen workers tried to rescue the salmon, but their three boats struggled for hours to push their way through the mass of jellyfish. All the fish were dead or dying from stings and stress by the time the boats reached the pens, he said.
The boat couldn’t get through? Man, that’s a lot of Pelagia nocticula. Apparently Jellyfish aren’t big fans of fish-farming either.
UPDATE: The Telegraph features a couple of photos of the jellyfish hordes. Where can I find more?
Further update:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3191664.ece
The salmon farm hit by a massive jellyfish attack last week has confirmed its only remaining site has now been wiped out as well.
John Russell, managing director of the Northern Salmon Company, said the juvenile fish that were growing to maturity at Red Bay on the Co Antrim coast were all destroyed in the last couple of days by a second jellyfish attack.
Further huge jellyfish swarms have now been reported off the coast of Scotland, according to the Marine Conservation Society.