This is a good article on Alaskan jellyfish populations which skyrocketed in abundance throughout the 90's, but now have crashed over the past three years. It serves to illustrate the frustration of seeking generalizations on what's happening in the world's oceans. Many of the biologists at the symposium on gelatinous zooplankton held at Dauphin Island in 2000 were of the general opinion that "jellyfish blooms" in general are increasing worldwide, but the data are not clear enough as yet to draw any firm conclusions. The reasons for the uncertainty are made clear by this article.
Posted by Randy Olson at March 4, 2004 08:21 AM