Stung!
Subtitle: on jellyfish blooms and the future of the ocean
By: Lisa-Ann Gershwin ; with a foreword by Sylvia Earle
Contributors: Earle, Sylvia A., 1935-
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press; University of Chicago Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 424
ISBN-13: 9780226020105
Subjects: Marine ecology; Jellyfish blooms; Ecology; Ecological disturbances; Jellyfishes
Other titles: Jellyfish blooms and the future of the ocean
Description: Our oceans are becoming increasingly inhospitable to life{u2014}growing toxicity and rising temperatures coupled with overfishing have led many marine species to the brink of collapse. And yet there is one creature that is thriving in this seasick environment: the beautiful, dangerous, and now incredibly numerous jellyfish. As foremost jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin describes in Stung!, the jellyfish population bloom is highly indicative of the tragic state of the world{u2019}s ocean waters, while also revealing the incredible tenacity of these remarkable creatures. Recent documentaries about swarms of giant jellyfish invading Japanese fishing grounds and summertime headlines about armadas of stinging jellyfish in the Mediterranean and Chesapeake are only the beginning{u2014}jellyfish are truly taking over the oceans.

Despite their often dazzling appearance, jellyfish are simple creatures with simple needs: namely, fewer predators and competitors, warmer waters to encourage rapid growth, and more places for their larvae to settle and grow. In general, oceans that are less favorable to fish are more favorable to jellyfish, and these are the very conditions that we are creating through mechanized trawling, habitat degradation, coastal construction, pollution, and climate change. Despite their role as harbingers of marine destruction, jellyfish are truly enthralling creatures in their own right, and in Stung!, Gershwin tells stories of jellyfish both attractive and deadly while illuminating many interesting and unusual facts about their behaviors and environmental adaptations.

She takes readers back to the Proterozoic era, when jellyfish were the top predator in the marine ecosystem{u2014}at a time when there were no fish, no mammals, and no turtles; and she explores the role jellies have as middlemen of destruction, moving swiftly into vulnerable ecosystems. The story of the jellyfish, as Gershwin makes clear, is also the story of the world{u2019}s oceans, and Stung! provides a unique and urgent look at their inseparable histories{u2014}and future.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-408) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part 1. Jellyfish behaving badly. At the mercy of jellyfish ; Some astonishing ecological impacts ; Jellyfish completely out of control; title: Part 2. Jellyfish, planetary doom, and other trivia. Jellyfish : the basics ; Overview of ecosystem perturbations ; Overfishing : a powerful agent of ecosystem change ; Eutrophication almost always leads to jellyfish ; Pollution destabilizes ecosystems ; Biopollution : the twelfth plague ; Climate change changes everything; title: Part 3. The weeds shall inherit the earth. The allee effect, trophic cascades, and shifting baselines ; The jellyfish double whammy ; High-energy and low-energy ecosystems; title: Part 4. The oceans are dying to tell us something. Ocean acidification : the "new" problem ; The rise of slime.