jellyfish ocean

Artist: Sabine Carter

Artist statement:
"As an artist, I love jellyfish. They are beautiful and mysterious. However, the idea of oceans full of jellyfish is a haunting image." 

Context:
A warming ocean creates ideal conditions for jellyfish while a lot of other marine creatures struggle. In Japan a jellyfish bloom clogged fishing nets, devastated fish populations both in farms and in the wild, and even caused a trawler to capsize.

​"Jellyfish can lie as polyps on the ocean floor for years, spawning only when conditions are favorable. Higher ocean temperatures mean that reproductive conditions that formerly occurred once every few decades now occur more frequently. And then there’s the issue of oxygen. In many parts of the ocean, high concentrations of agricultural nutrients cause plankton to grow explosively. This, in turn, depletes some areas of the ocean of oxygen, creating “dead zones.” Most marine life can’t survive in an oxygen-deprived environment — except for jellyfish." Read the article here. 

​>> home