7th and 8th fact. 12 Terrifying Facts About Jellyfish.

7th and 8th fact.

Accordingly, jellyfish — including those only found in tropical waters such as the box jellyfish and its smaller cousin, the Irukandjis – are poised to extend their ranges as the ocean warms up and oxygen levels decline, “thanks” to phosphorus and nitrogen from agriculture and industrial human activities. Those two substances and whatever else is in fertilizer runoff from farms are now filling our oceans, to jellyfish’s benefit.

Jellyfish add to the carbon content of the ocean via the feces and mucus they release into the water and due to their feeding on copepods and plankton. The latter creature helps to take carbon dioxide out of the oceans and atmosphere by consuming carbon-rich food at the surface and then expelling it as pellets that fall to the ocean floor. With jellyfish eating so many of them, the amount of “carbon reducing” creatures has been severely reduced.