Unlike many other marine animals, jellyfish are among the winners of climate change. Due to the rising water temperatures of the world’s oceans, they could penetrate further into the Arctic Ocean in the future, as shown by a study by the Bremerhaven Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). In a computer model, researchers exposed eight Arctic jellyfish species to rising water temperatures, as would be expected due to climate change.
The result: With one exception, all species studied were able to significantly expand their range towards the Arctic from the period 1950 to 2014 to the period 2050 to 2099. The study was published in the journal “Limnology and Oceanography”.
Yellow hairy jellyfish are spreading north
According to the results, the yellow-haired jellyfish, known as the fire jellyfish and found in the Baltic Sea, is spreading particularly strongly towards the north. “It can even almost triple its habitat,” says AWI marine biologist Charlotte Havermans. Only one species studied (Sminthea arctica) recorded a 15 percent decline as it retreats to colder depths when temperatures are high. According to the information, jellyfish also benefit from nutrient supply and overfishing. As climate change puts pressure on marine life, cnidarians, including jellyfish, can often gain the upper hand over food competitors such as fish, says lead author Dmitrii Pantiukhin. On Spitsbergen, the crown jellyfish has already taken over an entire fjord, Havermans emphasizes.
“Many jellyfish feed on fish larvae and eggs, delaying or preventing the recovery of stressed fish populations, which are also often heavily managed by humans,” says Pantiukhin. Science is already talking about an impending global ‘squalification’ of the oceans. This is also reflected in the fact that people in the Mediterranean have suffered from jellyfish stings more often over the past fifteen years, according to Havermans.
Fish population under pressure
It is still unclear how the northward advance of cnidarians will affect fish stocks in the Arctic. “There are many indications that important fish species in the Arctic, such as cod, whose larvae and eggs are often eaten by jellyfish, are coming under even greater pressure,” says Havermans.
Source: Krone
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