![]() ![]() Around six species of these have reported regular blooms in the state. Experts estimate that India is home to around 50 jellyfish species, out of which at least 20 species have been identified in Kerala. Over 90 percent of a jellyfish’s body is composed of water. Jellyfish is a collective term for any umbrella-shaped gelatinous animal in marine waters and is considered the oldest multi-organ animal found on earth, having overcome 500 million years through natural selection. But now, it appears that their numbers are increasing at a steady rate, so much so that some of us have to stop going for work for days,” says Madhu, a long-time fisherman, who stays near Madakkal. We try to avoid trapping them in our nets as much as we can. We have been sighting them every year, so you expect them to bloom at this time. However, their scale has increased at an unprecedented rate, observe fisher workers from the region. Sighted from November to March, jellyfish blooms are almost an annual phenomenon in these coastal regions of North Malabar. ![]() Aesthetics aside, jellyfish blooms sighted in estuaries in and around Kavvayi as well as Madakkal, Nileshwaram, Padanna, Valiyaparamba and neighbouring regions in Kasargod district have become a cause for concern for the fisher workers here. ![]() When you watch them slowly propel themselves through the water, they don’t even seem that dangerous,” says Satheeshan T.V. In the early hours of the day, when the sky is clear and blue, swarms of jellyfish wade through the waters surrounding Kavvayi islands, some four kilometres from the nearest town, Payyanur, in Kannur district of Kerala. Other industries such as tourism, power generation, desalination, and shipping have also reported considerable economic losses in the past due to jellyfish blooms. With the ongoing prawns and shrimps season, the presence of jellyfish makes it difficult to efficiently catch other types of fish. Apart from the severe itching, jellyfish clog fishing nets.While the blooms are sighted every year, fish workers say that of late, their scale has increased to a point where they have to stop going to fish and put a pause on their work for a few days.Jellyfish blooms sighted in estuaries in coastal north Kerala have become an increasing cause for concern for the fisher workers here. ![]()
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