Report: Billions of jellyfish wipe out salmon farm
A pack of mauve stinger jellyfish covering 10 square miles in a 35-foot deep layer overwhelm salmon farm in Northern Ireland.
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A 10-square-mile pack of jellyfish wiped out a 100,000-fish salmon farm in Northern Ireland, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The billions of jellyfish, piled densely in a 35-foot-deep layer, did in the fish through stings and stress, according to John Russell, managing director of Northern Salmon.
The Pelagia nocticula species, or "mauve stinger," ordinarily is found in warmer waters such as the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists pointed to the presence of the jellyfish, rarely seen that far north, as evidence of global warming.
All of the fish, worth $2 million, are dead or dying and, absent government aid, the farm likely will go out of business, Russell said.