In the video: a swarm of jellyfish off the coast of Israel/photo: Reuters
The weight of the largest measured exceeds 30 kilograms.
Medusa "Wandering Thread", this week/Dr. Dor Edelist
Jellyfish of the "wandering filament" species of unprecedented sizes, with the largest measured exceeding 30 kilograms, have been observed in recent days along the coasts of Israel, after a summer and fall completely devoid of jellyfish.
"Winter swarms of threadworms have been commonplace in recent years, but this year the size of the jellyfish is definitely unusual. After a summer without jellyfish, and the enormous size of the jellyfish in the winter swarms, we anticipate that the coming summer will be relatively abundant in jellyfish," said marine biologist Dr. Dor Edalist , from the AMBER laboratory at Haifa University.
Jellyfish of the "wandering thread" species on the shores of the country, this week/Dr. Dor Edelist
"Winter swarms of wireworms are a common thing in recent years"/Dr. Dor Edalist
The impressive amounts of precipitation this winter caused the jellyfish to arrive
According to Dr. Edelist, one of the founders of the civil science site "Medusas in the Nation" together with Prof. Dror Angel from the University of Haifa, there are several possible explanations for the phenomenon of giant jellyfish, the main one of which relates to the impressive amounts of precipitation this winter, which brought many fertilizers to the sea. As a result, it developed Production of algae, followed by a bloom of the zooplankton that feeds on them, and finally the jellyfish that feed on it.
"The last time we had such a phenomenon, of a summer without jellyfish followed by developed winter swarms, was in 2016-7 and after that we experienced intense summer swarms in the summer of 2017, so we are also watching In the summer, there is a significant bloom in the months of June and July," said Dr. Edelist.
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