Jellyfish and the Climate

While my parents were oohing and ahhing over the tranquil beauty of dozens of jellyfish drifting around Monterey Bay, I remembered that I had read something about how beach-goers from around the world were reporting more and more jellyfish sightings and stings than ever before. So, I did a little research…

Jellyfish are, indeed, increasing in number thanks to at least three different things we humans have done. First off, many of the jellyfish’s natural predators and competitors for food have been over-fished, allowing jellyfish to thrive and grow in population in their absence. Second, nitrogen and phosphorus run-off into the ocean creates areas where other fish die off but where jellyfish can still survive, giving the species even more places to populate. Third, climate change is warming up the oceans, making it a more comfortable temperature for jellyfish.

Surprisingly, jellyfish might actually be somewhat good for the environment. Ironically, while they benefit the most from climate change, they may also be the ocean creature that helps most to curb its effects. Apparently, the way jellyfish swim actually stirs and pulls nutrients around in the ocean. Since carbon dioxide gets dissolved into the ocean surface, this surprisingly simple process can actually pull some of the carbon dioxide deeper into the ocean, where they won’t be reabsorbed into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, while this may mitigate most of the effects of climate change, it actually exacerbates one major effect: ocean acidification, which has been contributing to the decline of coral reefs.¹

Jellyfish have been a kind of mixed blessing for the environment, but invading swarms of them have been terrible news for beach-goers around the world. An unprecedented amount of jellyfish in the Mediterranean has hurt the tourism industry there. In New York City, a major clash of jellyfish and people occurred in a triathlon across the Hudson River, where thousands of participants got stung.² Even scarier, for the last couple of summers, Japan has had to deal with invasions of giant jellyfish weighing up to 440 pounds, and these boneless creatures have actually done some serious damage to fishermen and their equipment.³

Fortunately, there are some preventative measures you can take against getting stung. Be cautious of warm beaches, where jellyfish most like to hang out. Do your research about whether the beach you want to go to has a persistent jellyfish problem. If a beach’s lifeguard tower displays a purple flag, this is a signal that there are dangerous marine life in the water, likely jellyfish or sharks. Don’t go in the water! If you’re not sure if you’re swimming in an area where you might get stung, try a jellyfish repellent called Safe Sea. It makes it difficult for jellyfish to sting you⁴ and can reduce any pain in case you do get stung.

If you do get stung, follow this procedure:

If the victim is showing sings of an allergic reaction or if a small child gets a rash over a large area of skin, immediately get the victim to the hospital.⁵ If there are no signs of allergic reaction, you can use vinegar. You can do this by placing a paper towel soaked in vinegar over the wound for 30 minutes or just pour vinegar directly onto the wound.⁶ A 50/50 mix alcohol and vinegar can help reduce the pain. If there’s a lifeguard on the beach, they might have some spare vinegar. If you can’t use vinegar, you can use unseasoned meat tenderizer, baking soda, household ammonia, lemon juice, or lime juice. After that, remove the stingers. If you have a shaving cream and safety razor, you can use those to scrape off stingers. If not, put sand onto the area and use a shell to scrape them off.⁷ Rinsing the area with saltwater can get rid of the last few stingers.⁸ Finally, to reduce the pain, apply hydrocortisone cream to the wound.⁹

Avoid some common mistakes when treating a jellyfish sting wound. Contrary to popular myth, don’t try to pee on the wound! Urine can actually aggravate the stingers in the skin, making it more painful rather than less painful. Even though the wound will itch and hurt, don’t scratch or rub the wound with anything, since this can make the stingers release more venom. Another surprising don’t: Don’t rinse the wound with freshwater. Freshwater can actually create an imbalance of solutes, prompting the stingers to release even more venom as well.¹⁰

Whether or not you want to, chances are that you’ll see this captivating, dangerous creature on beaches near you. Now, you know why. More importantly, you can now be prepared by knowing what to do when they attack!