Man-Made Disasters is currently on display at the San Francisco arm of Gallery 1988 as part of the Paper Pushers show.

Paper Pushers 2009 [via NOTCOT]

A few years ago, students at the Obama Fisheries High School in Fukui Prefecture developed a method of processing the monstrous jellyfish into an edible powder, which has been used to make cookies. But lately, raw caramel has been all the rage in Japan, prompting the students to try their hands at sea creature-based caramels. Adding sugar and starch syrup to the jellyfish powder, they have produced a sweet and salty candy.

It was a NASA-designed food safety management system that kicked off this jellyfish cuisine in the first place, and the high school is looking to give something back to the space program. The students have a meeting this week with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to make their caramels an official part of the menu aboard the International Space Station.

Space caramel made from giant jellyfish [Pink Tentacle]

Not only that, but scientists have found jellyfish weighing up to 440 pounds.

Human runoff has created a nutrient-rich environment for these giant jellies, and overfishing has reduced their competition in the oceans. And now these giants are taking over, able to tear through fishing nets and decimate local fishing populations.

A "giant jellyfish" invasion sounds like something even Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo would scoff at, but the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization has conjectured that this boom in jellyfish population and size could lead to them becoming the next kings of the ocean. The largest is called the Nomura, and it can grow to almost seven feet in diameter. Maybe we should put the coast guard on kaiju watch. Just in case.

Monster Jellyfish [Discovery]

Image credit: Yomiuri Shibun/AFP/Getty Images

According to a recent report from the National Science Foundation, it's time for us to figure out exactly what might be going on with these slimy-bodied invertebrates:

In recent years, massive blooms of stinging jellyfish and jellyfish-like creatures have overrun some of the world’s most important fisheries and tourist destinations—even transforming large swaths of them into veritable jellytoriums. The result: injuries (sometimes serious) to water enthusiasts and even occasional deaths.

Jellyfish swarms have also damaged fisheries, fish farms, seabed mining operations, desalination plants and large ships. And proving that jellyfish can be political animals, knots of jellyfish have done the work of anti-nuclear activists: they have disabled nuclear power plants by clogging intake pipes.

In short, since the 1980s, worldwide jellyfish blooms have caused hundreds of millions—or perhaps even billions—of dollars in losses. Worldwide reports of massive jellyfish blooms are triggering speculation that jellyfish swarms are increasing because of human activities. But are they?

The report presents a swarm locations map, showing areas where scientists or journalists have identified sharp rises in the number of jellyfish present. That list includes Australia, the Mediterranean, Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf Coast, the Bering Sea, Hawaii, the Black Sea, the waters around Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and even the coast of Namibia. NSF claims that environmental stress is to blame for these swarms, so we can add "giant jelly armies" to the list of disasters caused by global climate change.

The important question is: How much of this happens to be our fault? In a chart of all possible stresses that might affect our gloopy sea neighbors, the report pinpoints these five: invasions of non-native jellyfish, pollution, climate change, over-harvesting of fish, and dams. Humans are to blame for at least four of these. Whoops.

To make up for the havoc we may have wreaked on the ecosystem of these jellies (and to avoid getting Irukandji syndrome from a venemous horde of Australian box jellyfish, say), humans must get a handle on the causes of and solutions to this abnormal swarm activity. This NSF report is a good start.

Special Report: Jellyfish Gone Wild [National Science Foundation]

Pacific sea nettle jellyfish image from Wikimedia Commons.

A new program starting up at Swansea and Cork Universities called EcoJel will devote over half a million pounds to the study of the jellyfish invasion. The (literally) brainless creatures will be tagged so their migration patterns and preferred environments can be tracked. And researchers will also look at the impact the wiggly Cnidiarians have on coastal ecosystems. Very little is known about jellyfish, so the scientists view this as an opportunity to learn as much as they can. Or a chance to eat a tasty new sea-going treat.

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones suggested:

[The jellyfish] could provide an eco-tourist attraction for recreational divers. The project will also explore the potential of harvesting jellyfish in a sustainable way for food to export to Asian markets.

That's the spirit: Climate change is an opportunity, not a disaster! We can all start eating more jellyfish, or going on tours to see them.

EcoJel [Swansea University via TreeHugger]