Cape Town - Keeping jellyfish as pets in fish tanks is fast becoming a trend, but scientists still have a myriad questions about their mysterious resilience in unfavourable natural habitats where other sea life generally battles to survive.
Scientists from around the globe recently descended on Cape Town for the International Jellyfish Symposium last week to discuss jellyfish and other topics associated with the brainless, limbless creatures of the sea.
UWC, in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa and the Two Oceans Aquarium, co-hosted the event from November 4 to 6. This was the first time the symposium had been held in Cape Town since its inception six years ago.
UWC lecturer in the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Mark Gibbons, said the conference was an important opportunity to share the latest ideas, developments as well as technologies and theories on research relating to jellyfish.
It was also an important opportunity to share jellyfish management responses with a global community of scientists.
“They may become equally beneficial to marine conservation because in certain parts of the world, the slime jellyfish produces is being used to mop up microplastics and other pollutants in the ocean.
‘‘They are particularly helpful to marine conservationists because their presence (or absence) is a good indicator of the health of the oceans.
“We are able to see changes taking place in the marine environment by monitoring where jellyfish populations are increasing or decreasing relative to normal.
"Scientists are trying to figure out why jellyfish occur in large numbers in polluted parts of the ocean where visibility is not ideal.
‘‘They are looking at why they increase rapidly and occur in large numbers, causing problems such as clogging pumps of coastal power and desalination plant filters,” said Gibbons.
A researcher from Australia's Griffith University School of Environment and Science, Carolina Olguin Jacobson, also discussed her research paper titled The Recovery after Damage: Chronic exposure of polyps to a cocktail of pesticides has no effect on ephyrae (a larval jellyfish).
Other discussions at the symposium included jellyfish and their sexual reproduction, the effect of temperature and food availability, coastal acidification and its effects on their settlement and swimming behaviour.