Propelled by wind and strong sea currents, at least four giant jellyfish have been washed ashore dead within a week at Hamsaladeevi beach in Krishna district. Marine biologists attribute it to the warm weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal.
Students of Krishna University’s (KRU) Zoology Department sighted the dead jellyfish during their study tour to the beach -- a confluence point where the Krishna enters the Bay of Bengal. The students documented that each of the four jellyfish weighed up to 25 kilograms.
Sighting giant jellyfish on the AP coastline was a rare phenomenon for marine biologists. “The rise in temperature is one of the major causes for mortality of jellyfish. Their population is also increasing in the Bay of Bengal as the number of predators of jellyfish such as Pacific Salmon, Tuna, and Shark is dwindling due to fishing operations,” points out KRU Biotechnology Department Head P.V. Brahmachari.
Mr. Brahmachari stressed the need for research on jellyfish and changes in the food chain of small fish due to increase in the jellyfish population in the Bay of Bengal.
Marine biologists said a majority of the jellyfish species were not poisonous. However, bathers at the beach were refraining from venturing deep into the waters, fearing harm from the sand-coloured giant jellyfish.
Scientists attribute warm conditions in the Bay of Bengal as one of the major causes for their deaths
