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Giant jellyfish found on Australian beach


Han

piscator ψ
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Article here:
BBC News - Giant jellyfish found on Australia beach
 
Reminds me of a funny story.
Ive avoided the ocean since watching Jaws as a kid.
But one day while staying at a beach house, i put that aside and went for a swim in the ocean.
Within minutes i felt a large mass under me, it was a jellyfish about half the size of the one pictured.
It came up under me and lifted me half out of the water.

I damned near executed that bilogical protection mechanism designed to make prey unpalitable by means of a nasty smelling mess, and teleported from that spot to the beachhouse.
The teleport function didnt have that tingly cascade sound of start trek teleporters.
It sounded more like
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
 
Of even more interest has been the rampant blooming of jellyfish around the world. Some of these creatures are simply amazing to look at but their proliferate, especially in cold water areas now are of an increasing concern as they start to wreak havoc everywhere.

It is the new soft apocalypse: Jellyfish Armageddon! Experts claim creatures are taking over the seas - and it might be too late to stop them | Mail Online

bioluminescent_jellyfish.jpg


Their transformative capacity from dormant seed on the ocean floor to blooming colonies make them another excellent candidate, right up there with mushrooms, as most likely to have come from outer space.
 
Reminds me of a funny story.
Ive avoided the ocean since watching Jaws as a kid.
But one day while staying at a beach house, i put that aside and went for a swim in the ocean.
Within minutes i felt a large mass under me, it was a jellyfish about half the size of the one pictured.
It came up under me and lifted me half out of the water.

I damned near executed that bilogical protection mechanism designed to make prey unpalitable by means of a nasty smelling mess, and teleported from that spot to the beachhouse.
The teleport function didnt have that tingly cascade sound of start trek teleporters.
It sounded more like
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Im trying to picture being pushed out of the water by a jellyfish..that's really great
 
i got to admit sharks are my primal fear, and i live on an island in the irish see, water is too cold for man-eaters, even so the fear is always there as a kid in the back of the mind.

we, myself and several friends were spearing plaice in a local harbour, in 6 to 8 feet of water, picture the scene, goggles trunks black flippers, spear was 6/7ft bamboo, with a straightened out conger-eel hook bound/lashed to one end, you just float around looking for the 2 little eye mounds in the sand, and thats what i was doing, looking up and around every now and then to see where i was, i looked up and behind once just as my flipper was side on right behind me [black triangle], and even 40 years later i remember the absolute horror/fear i felt in that split second.
 
i got to admit sharks are my primal fear, and i live on an island in the irish see, water is too cold for man-eaters, even so the fear is always there as a kid in the back of the mind.

we, myself and several friends were spearing plaice in a local harbour, in 6 to 8 feet of water, picture the scene, goggles trunks black flippers, spear was 6/7ft bamboo, with a straightened out conger-eel hook bound/lashed to one end, you just float around looking for the 2 little eye mounds in the sand, and thats what i was doing, looking up and around every now and then to see where i was, i looked up and behind once just as my flipper was side on right behind me [black triangle], and even 40 years later i remember the absolute horror/fear i felt in that split second.


I don't think the waters are too cold for man-eaters, I have heard of reports of great whites off the coast of Britain, there is also no reason that "Greenland" sharks could not inhabit our waters, although I have never heard of one attacking a person they do like to eat seals, and in a case of mistaken identity they have the potential to eat you.

We definitely have Mako sharks which although not as large as the Great white are still formidable predators and have been known to attack humans as have Blue sharks which are also "native" to British waters, finally we have "Smooth" Hammerheads which have also got form when it comes to attacking humans.

The species above have all been known to attack humans without being provoked (except Greenland sharks, but we know very little about them) but I reckon Killer whales (Orcas) have eaten people before, as have Sperm whales (in my opinion) especially when annoyed, sick or wounded (provoked).


I also would not fancy tangling with a large Conga Eel!


The North Atlantic is home to some other potential man-eaters, and they could on occasion enter British waters:




The Shark Trust - Shark Factsheets
 
not 40 years ago they werent, they were only several miles off-shore in the gulf-stream, right down on the south coast of england, we are in the irish sea.

we are alittle famous for our basking shark population, our sea in the summer is rich in plankton, cos its cold, cold enough to make your nuts tighten, and dissapear upwards.
 
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1] thresher is not a man eater, and has only ever been recorded once in manx coastal waters, again you are failing to grasp we are in the irish sea, not the atlantic, further more we are high up in it.

from your own source

Threshers have a low fecundity, like all large sharks, and are highly vulnerable to overfishing.[citation needed] Besides being hunted for their meat, threshers are also hunted for their liver oil, skin (for leather), and their fins, for use in shark-fin soup.

They do not appear to be a threat to humans, although some divers have been hit with the upper tail lobe. A dubious account of a fisherman being decapitated by a tail swipe as the shark breached has been reported.[8]





2 ] again you mistake the english channel for the isle of man, if manx fishermen want to steam as the crow flies a minimum of 300 miles to fish of the south of england [truro] then so be it, no-one has seen a blue shark in manx coast waters we are too high up, technically off the coast, but 300 miles in a straight line of the coast.

from your copy and paste

It is abundant in and around the English Channel during the summertime – many charter boats can be hired from this area that specifically target these impressive species.
The maximum length of a blue shark is around the 12ft mark, with weights being up to 330lb, but the largest you are likely to encounter in our local waters will be around 9ft and 200lb.



3] mako shark only follow the gulf stream as the gulf stream has shifter closer to the southern english coast line, fishing them is possible, however we are more than 200 miles away, and theres never been one reported in manx coastal waters


Habitat

The shortfin mako is a true pelagic species with a primarily anti-tropical distribution. However, they will enhabit the cooler, deeper water of tropical regions. In some tropical areas where the surface temperature is 27°C (81°F), water temperature may be as low as 59°F (15°C) at depths of 30-60 m (94.2-188.4 ft). With the ability to elevate body temperature, makos are able to maintain themselves in temperatures of 5-11°C (41-52°F). In this sense the makos are somewhat "warm-blooded," meaning that heat in their blood is conserved within the body and not lost through the gills. They have been recorded at depths 740 m. However, shortfin makos prefer water temperatures between 17-20°C. It has been hypothesized this species migrates seasonally to warmer waters. This theory has been supported by tag and release studies.

These studies have also shown that while shortfin makos follow warm water, they do so within the confines of a specific geographical area. Consequently, there seems to be limited genetic flow between these geographically distinct populations. Very little is known about the social habits of the shortfin mako, except that it is a solitary shark.



4] i cant be bothered to scan the huge pdf, you copy and paste an off the isle of man, again without quantifying the many miles of the isle of man the sighting was, knowing full well WE are discussing the 12 mile limit of manx coastal waters, not 200/300 miles off the isle of man.


to even suggest that man eaters frequent manx coastal waters a place where the second biggest shark in the world is studied each year by interest groups the world over, where 24 hour cameras are pointed into bays so the people can whale watch live, a place with a vibrant fishing industrie, and to someone who has lived their whole life here is just ludicrous.
 
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Your point about copying and pasting is valid.


I will concede that I am not an expert and don't have in depth knowledge of the Isle of Man waters hence the copy and paste overload.
I would also agree that Threshers are not considered man-eaters. (but I reckon they would have a go!) There have been some attacks on Humans reported, and the Same is true of Porbeagles.

To be fair you yourself posted a link to to a Thresher sighting (In Isle of man waters) and that is why I included the other two historical sightings.


Now the bit I don't agree with you on is firstly that the map I included regarding Mako distribution clearly showed that the Sea around the Isle of Man contains Makos (area coloured red on map) secondly the notion that the Waters of the Isle of man are too frigid and northerly to be by visited by Blue Sharks.


To say that very little is know about the behaviours and distribution of both Mako and Blue sharks is a gross understatement.


I would say that I find the idea of "whale watchers" and "cameras pointed at bays" capturing "evidence" of Mako or Blue sharks implausible at best, the thing about Whale sharks and Baleen Whales is that they both consume plankton that is found near the surface of the water, making them much more conspicuous than Sharks that spend the majority their lives at "depth". In the case of both toothed and baleen whales: they are compelled to the surface by the need to breathe, which again makes them more "spottable" than a fish that can remain submerged indefinitely.


If we look at what little is known about both species (Blue and Mako) individually:

The blue shark has one of the longest migratory routes of any animal, and during these travels it encounters diverse conditions to say the least, meaning that a "visit" to Isle of Man waters would be a walk in the park so to speak.


The Mako is also very capable of traveling great distances in a day and is actually the fastest shark, it has evolved into an extremely efficient swimmer and the short trip required to "visit" Isle of Man waters is well within it capability.


In both cases I believe that they can and do visit Isle of Man Waters, if the conditions are favourable to them i.e if they are following a school of Mackerel for example (I think you will concede that Mackerel are commonly found in Isle of Man waters?).
Their presence is also conceivable if they followed the scent trail of a Whale that had died within "Isle of Man" waters.

Basically I think that they will go where the food is and have no concept of human notions like map/chart "Boundaries" or "Borders" they are more interested in dinner than Geography, Seriously though I do not think that the Sea off the Isle of Man is teaming with Sharks capable of eating people, rather that they visit occasionally.


To rule out the possibility, in my opinion at least, is to overlook the fact that observing pelagic animals such as Mako and Blue Sharks is made extremely challenging by the mere fact that the sea is very, very big and very, very dark its not like looking at a star millions of miles away, in some places visibility is a matter of inches meaning that large animals have little trouble evading human "detection".
 
well if they are here dont you just think maybe someone would of spotted one in the last 200yrs.

Now the bit I don't agree with you on is firstly that the map I included regarding Mako distribution clearly showed that the Sea around the Isle of Man contains Makos (area coloured red on map) secondly the notion that the Waters of the Isle of man are too frigid and northerly to be by visited by Blue Sharks.

To say that very little is know about the behaviours and distribution of both Mako and Blue sharks is a gross understatement.


mako only follow in the gulf stream, your map is faulty, the gulf stream used to run about 20 miles off the tip of truro, and around 350 miles as the crow flies, from the bottom tip of the island, blue shark can be caught of piers beachs and rocks all around the south coast of england, again 250/300 miles away.

it would be a huge story here if a killer was ever spotted in our waters or a dead one wash up, or a seal bitten etc etc.

our sea is dark emerald green in the summer, nothing blue about it, it is rich in plankton and some of our beaches often need a tractor and trailer to clean up 1000s upon 1000s of dead jelly fish after blooms get blown in-shore and stranded by the receeding tide..
 
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"well if they are here dont you just think maybe someone would of spotted one in the last 200yrs."

No not necessarily

"again 250/300 miles away."
250 miles would be easilly negotiated by said sharks.


I would probably share your view if we were talking about a land animal, but due to the very nature of the ocean, proving their abscence is harder than demonstrating the probability of their occasional presence. I would argue that the map is not "wrong" because I believe that the person who created it deliberatley chose to depict the sea around the whole of the british isles as containing Mako sharks becasue they concluded that there was insufficient data to rule out their presence.

Mako and Blue sharks are "native" to Norway which surely has lower average sea tempretures than The Isle of man?
 
ok you win, i will petition tynwald to put up danger killer shark notices on our beach's, i will tape record the laughter as i leave tynwald court after pleading your case.

by the way every manx person here is entitled to petition the government for a hearing in front of tynwald court [government sitting] once a year to air a grievance.

thats handy innit, free of charge, and the grievences are published in the local paper, and so is the courts decision..
 
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:( Manxman I was going to dare you to go for a swim wearing a belt of herrings, after I had chummed the water for a few days :(
We did not even really get into talking about killer whales, (which was the ace up my sleeve) and before you say they do not attack people in the wild, they do especially if your name is Hans! talk about coincidence!!*

*Hans Kretschmer: attacked by an Orca:
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