Stung!: On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean

I don't remember decades ago hearing about blooms of jellyfish, jellyfish so clogging beaches that people could not go into the water. Such things did use to happen, but nowadays there are plenty of such reports; just use Google to see if there is any news about jellyfish, and you will easily find such blooms, and also reports of people being hospitalized due to the ensuing stings. I had thought that this was the big disadvantage of a jellyfish imbalance, the stings they dealt people. I have learned that this is actually only a small part of the problem. Despite its title, relatively few of the pages of _Stung!: On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean_ (University of Chicago Press) by marine biologist Lisa-ann Gershwin have to do with the pain jellyfish tentacles inflict on human bodies. Instead, Gershwin explains that jellyfish are doing wonderfully well at the cost of the diversity of other marine species, and our oceans are going through something they have not had in millions of years, a "rise of slime." This is truly a book that is distressing without being alarmist. Jellyfish, Gershwin says, might be analogous to canaries in a coal mine; when the canary falls off its perch because it cannot breathe, it is time for the miners to get out fast. Jellyfish, however, thrive (instead of dying) when the environment is in degradation, and not only do we have nowhere to escape (the oceans and we are on this planet for good), it increasingly looks like there is nothing we can do.Jellyfish sting, and sometimes kill people. They clog up ships and power plants. These are minor problems, however. They are changing the oceans, perhaps forever, and we are continuing to welcome them to do so. Gershwin invites us to think of jellyfish as weeds; of course they are not plants, but they have weedy behaviors that make them continue when other species have given up. The jellyfish renaissance is happening because we are making it easy for jellyfish to thrive. We are changing the oceans in ways that are for jellyfish "a dream come true" (a phrase Gershwin uses more than once). People may debate whether humans are causing, say, global warming, but there is certainty that we are causing the boom in jellyfish. Many of Gershwin's chapters detail (often at length and inarguably) the multiple ways that we are doing this, ways that are summing up for an ocean disaster. Overfishing, pollution, coastal construction, overuse of fertilizers, climate change, and ocean acidification all give jellyfish an edge. Jellyfish in many areas have been "the last man standing," and are doing just fine in the remaining areas, too. And if they aren't bothering an area yet, just wait - they happily hitch free rides in the ballast water our ships carry from place to place. Jellyfish have formed their blooms as a natural part of their life cycle for millions of years, but the changes we have wrought are enabling them to do it bigger, more often, and in more places than ever before. Generally jellyfish are not able to take over a healthy ecosystem. Fish, for instance, are mobile, bigger, and smarter than jellyfish (which, after all, have no brains), and can never lose to them on a level playing field. But if the fish are burdened with overfishing or pollution, the opportunistic jellyfish move in. Gershwin writes of the "double whammy" they inflict of predation (on the eggs and larvae of species higher on the food chain) and competition (for the plankton lower on the food chain which those species would otherwise eat). We ourselves would like to be eating some of those fish species, and jellyfish are starting to outcompete us.It is all bad news, perhaps with the tiny exception that the jellyfish that people eat will be there in abundance ("only 36 calories per 3-ounce portion"). Gershwin's book is a serious look at a real problem, but she is a funny and chatty writer who can't let doom get in the way of a jaunty sentence. "It is now clear," she writes, "that our marine ecosystems are in freefall due to multiple stressors, and there is no easy fix. Hell, there isn't even a hard fix. The startling truth is we screwed up." She says you can wear protective clothing when you go swimming in the sea, and you can get a jellyfish forecast on your Smartphone. But neither she nor anyone else has solutions to the jellyfish problem or even realistic suggestions, except for exactly one word that ends the book, and which I will not tell you here. Read it and weep.

I found "STUNG!" to be fascinating, informative and, frankly, very sobering (the latter is no reflection on my review; it's the reality of our environment and ecosystems, as I concluded from Dr. Greshwin's book). Before reading this book, I did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the adverse impact that humankind has had, and, unfortunately, continues to have, on our precious oceans and its diverse marine life. I also did not appreciate that jellyfish, in their ever-growing numbers, results in a significant imbalance of the ecosystem; and, that one can view the presence of overabundant jellyfish blooms as an equivalent litmus test on the state of our oceans and, in fact, the future of life on our planet. Over the years, I have read books on this general topic by well-known and distinguished researchers, such as Stanford's Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb," and Caltech's Professor David L. Goodstein's "Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil." Dr. Gershwin's book complements these works and provides a provocative and scholarly perspective on this important topic, and in fact, emerges as a very intuitive one, in terms of how we are destroying our wonderful planet. In particular, the focus is on our oceans in general, and, more specifically, on jellyfish and their blooms. Gershwin also considers the complex interrelationships of our terrestrial shortcomings (overconsumption, pollution, etc.) with those in our oceans (acidity, oxygen levels, overfishing, non-biodegradable plastics, etc.), which are manifested by changes in global temperature, atmospheric composition, etc. In essence, we are participants in an on-going laboratory experiment gone awry, owing to our reluctance to accept responsibility for our actions on the environment and ecosystems and to act accordingly. Over the course of our presence on Earth, humankind has been globally burying its collective head in the sands of our beaches instead of looking at our seas to realize the detrimental effects that we are imposing on all life forms, including ourselves. Sadly, our inactions have, over time, as Gershwin concludes, appear now to be irreversible and, presumably, past the tipping point, vis-a-vis the health and sustainability of our planet. Our only hope is, in the words of Gershwin, "to adapt." Dr. Gershwin's book is very readable, understandable and factual. It is peppered with myriad references (including many from scholarly, archival journals), along with a variety of interesting and informative quotes from experts on the field, sidebars (including simple kitchen experiments and refresher notes on relevant chemistry), tables, and a glossary. The level of discussion is ideally suited for the general public, students at all levels, the layperson as well as experts in the field. This comprehensive and extremely relevant treatment is a must-have for all to read, regardless of where one may reside on the spectrum of anthropic philosophy.

This book was thought provoking in many ways. First way is the author Lisa-ann Gershwin tells the reader that jellyfish can be used as indicator species as the Earth's environment changes creating change making current ocean biome different with combination absent key predators within the environment as a result with an absence of important predators to eat jellyfish and the Earth's crating the "perfect storm" allowing jellyfish to "successful" assuming animals like phytoplankton and copepods are still thriving in the future. Gershwin argues there many key factors in which why this happening. The one example that Gershwin asserts is that over fishing eliminates the competition. She also argues that jellyfish can serve as index species meaning that people can tell the health of the ocean from jellyfish. However humans are innovative where they can make any animal edible. For example example jellyfish are a food in Southeast and East Asian countries. Which make me wonder about question about products such Apoaequorin and the uses of jellyfish. This good book make people think about the future state of the ocean. This cautionary tale warns people of the future state of the ocean. While people can not go on the past, this up to people and the present to maintain the ocean and keep the ocean at it's current baseline.

Though I have not yet finished reading this book I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to receive the serious message it is making (and even those who don't). The author presents her case in language that is accessable considering that she is reporting a scientific study and does this with humour. I have heard the author inteviewed on radio and she made me laugh aloud without detracting from the message she is sending. I have to say that she has made me regard Jellyfish with awe and trepidation.

“Global warming science may be characterized by uncertainties”; in contrast, ocean “acidification is a straightforward and predictable consequence of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide”“polar and subpolar surface waters are likely to begin dissolving the shells of pteropods and other creatures with aragonite shells by 2050 (Orr et al. 2005).”“a “business-as-usual” scenario concluded pteropod shells in the Southern Ocean should begin dissolving by 2030, and no later than 2038 (McNeil and Matear 2008).”Ocean acidification is ‘here and now’, clearly and easily measurable, and a direct reporter of the carbon dioxide level of the atmosphere. The science of gaseous absorption by water is unarguable, relatively well quantified and understood. Factors affecting temperature change, a mini ice age, light reflecting mirrors, or atmospheric sulphates even if truly viable which is doubtful, will not reduce ocean acidification.To the chapter on ocean acidity, add; temperature change, pollution, eutrophication, overfishing, seabed damage, the rise of jellyfish . . . deep reefs can take 4000 years to build . . . marine system evolution has taken tens of thousands of years . . . there is no path back . . . I would highly commend ‘Stung !”; Lisa-ann Gershwin; readable understandable and very sobering.Everybody should read this and soon.

Still one of the best (if not the best) non fiction book I have read. This is the only book that had such an enormous effect on me that I emailed the author to let her know. Within a year of reading this book I had left a career and started a new career in marine conservation.I highly recommend (obviously)

I am half way throughout this book,,, and I love it !!!! Cant put it down ! ,,,, It is so interesting and sad to learn what a dire environment we are helping turn our oceans into. I bought it merely bcause of my fear ( and wierd interest) in Jellyfish but this book tells a whole new story,,, Would recommend,,, One of the most interesting, informative books I have read

Lots of very interesting facts but also references to scientific papers and studies.Great way to learn about those beasties with scientific evidence, but without all the boring aspects of scientific reports!Style of writing is funny and not too complicated so anyone can read it really.I haven't finished yet but i'm truly enjoying it so far.