A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan.
Nomura's jellyfish: The crew of the
fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the
three men were rescued by another trawler
The trawler, the Diasan Shinsho-maru,
capsized off Chiba`as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net
containing dozens of huge Nomura's jellyfish.
Each
of the jellyfish can weigh up to 200 kg and waters around Japan have
been inundated with the creatures this year. Experts believe weather and
water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of China, have
been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months.
The
crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel
capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler, according
to the Mainichi newspaper. The local Coast Guard office reported that
the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.
One
of the largest jellyfish in the world, the species can grow up to 2
meters in diameter. The last time Japan was invaded on a similar scale,
in the summer of 2005, the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish
inedible with their toxic stings and even caused injuries to fishermen.
Relatively
little is known about Nomura's jellyfish, such as why some years see
thousands of the creatures floating across the Sea of Japan on the
Tsushima Current, but last year there were virtually no sightings. In
2007, there were 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment caused by
the creatures.
Experts believe that one contributing factor to
the jellyfish becoming more frequent visitors to Japanese waters may be a
decline in the number of predators, which include sea turtles and
certain species of fish.
