![]() ![]() Jellyfish have what scientists refer to as a biphasic - or two-phased - life cycle, which includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Nina Sassano studied sea nettle settlement for her master’s work at East Carolina University. However, the work requires an understanding of the unique life cycle of jellyfish. The Sea Grant funding enabled Sassano to study how these structures might contribute to jellyfish blooms. These include the bulkheads used to control estuarine shoreline erosion and boating infrastructure such as docks and pilings. However, one factor that may not seem obvious is the role of man-made structures in the environment. These may include eutrophication - where excess nutrient input into estuarine waters causes excessive plant growth - along with elevated water temperatures and declines in jellyfish predator populations. “Several environmental factors work together to create jellyfish blooms,” explains Sassano, who graduated in summer 2015. “We wanted to bring some data to the controversy.” “There’s a perception that jellyfish are on the rise, but not a lot of empirical evidence,” Kimmel says. He and Sassano worked on a project, supported by a North Carolina Sea Grant minigrant, that may shed some light on one way that humans might contribute to local jellyfish blooms in estuarine ecosystems. Regardless, the exact factors leading to jellyfish blooms are still poorly understood.ĭavid Kimmel, an ECU marine ecologist specializing in plankton ecology, is investigating this question. Convincing evidence that jellyfish are not on the rise has been offered by Rob Condon, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. However, there is no consensus over this conclusion. In a frequently cited 2009 paper from the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Australian marine biologist Anthony Richardson and his colleagues noted that the ocean may be headed for “a more gelatinous future,” caused by human-induced problems, such as overfishing and climate change. Some researchers have suggested that jellyfish blooms are increasing. “I forgot that and wiped my hand across my face after handling some jellyfish,” Sassano - can be stung. ![]() She was reminded the painful way that nematocysts, the stinging cells on jellyfish tentacles, will continue to sting even after the tentacle is detached from the body. Atlantic sea nettles are the jellyfish species that is most commonly responsible for stinging bathers in North Carolina. ![]()
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