“Invasion of the Giant Jellyfish!” sounds like the title of a hastily made Godzilla era Japanese film where people dressed in torn bedsheets float around in a pool killing innocent swimmers. Ironically, though, giant jellyfish really HAVE invaded Japanese waters and some scientists blam changing (rising) water temperatures.

This year’s jellyfish swarm is one of the worst he has seen, Hamano said. Once considered a rarity occurring every 40 years, they are now an almost annual occurrence along several thousand kilometers (miles) of Japanese coast, and far beyond Japan.

Scientists believe climate change — the warming of oceans — has allowed some of the almost 2,000 jellyfish species to expand their ranges, appear earlier in the year and increase overall numbers, much as warming has helped ticks, bark beetles and other pests to spread to new latitudes. ( source )

So for all of you oceanographers out there we have a simple piece of advice for you: Make sure your thermometer can resist the elements and watch out for jellyfish! They sting!

Tags: jellyfish, Temperature, temperature meters