Dingle takes on the jelly menace
DINGLE Oceanworld is exhibiting and studying jellyfish in big numbers – the better to figure out ways to halt their rapid increase in the wild.
The new research project is also making for a stunning display as the miniature
‘jelly babies’ are quickly becoming a big hit with the general public.
“They make for a wonderful spectacle and we’ve had a great reaction from visitors in our first week exhibiting the specimens,” Dingle Oceanworld director Kevin Flannery said.
The research project can’t come soon enough as the jellyfish population off our coast explodes - of particular worry given the rising presence of the highly-dangerous Portuguese Man o’ War.
With little known about the life-cycle of jellyfist, the Dingle Oceanworld project is expected to contribute hugely to our understanding of the creatures.
“There’s been a phenomenal increase in their numbers in our waters. Jellyfish wiped out an entire fish farm on Rathlin Island recently, by burning the salmon with their stingers,” Kevin said.
“With the help of students at the IT and a number of other colleges we are carrying out a very careful study of these common ‘ moon’ jellyfish, to figure out ways their life cycle can be disrupted in order to better protect the public and improtant commercial ventures like fish farms,” Kevin added.