I mentioned in my last report that I went to Goseong, Gangwondo on the East Sea to get to know more about the decrease in pollakcs. However, that was not the only thing that I saw there. While I was relaxing at the beach with my family, I realized that there was another problem caused by global warming. To be specific, I could actually see and feel the increase in the jellyfish population.

           The population of jellyfish has been growing steadily in Korean seas due to rising sea temperatures. I had heard about this numerous times, and was quite interested in the topic. For your information, there are mainly two types of foreign species of jellyfish that are currently observed in Korea. They are cannonball jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai) and moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). They were not native to Korea but have been increasing in numbers over the past few years, especially on the southern coast of Korea. The number of accidents related to jellyfish stings also has been soaring due to this problem. Yet I never realized that the problem would be so serious on the northern coast because the sea temperature is much colder there than the southern coast.

           As I was swimming in seashore when I spotted an object like a plastic bag. I tried to pick it up because I thought that it was trash, but was surprised when I saw that it was actually a jellyfish. It was the moon jellyfish that I mentioned above. I caught it with an actual plastic bag and buried it in the sand so that nobody would get hurt while swimming. Although I had seen some jellyfish on the beach a few years ago, I never saw it alive and swimming in the water. I realized that the problem was much more serious that I had imagined.

          Furthermore, I could see even more jellyfishes a day later. I picked them up and buried it in the sand once again. However, there were so many jellyfishes that they kept floating no matter how hard I tried. I was even scared that I could get stung while swimming in the water. As I learned later, there was a ?jellyfish warning? in the region because there was so many jellyfish. The Korean government is currently trying to solve the problem by catching jellyfish and installing fences to prevent them from swimming into beaches. However, I believe that they should take a stronger action and try to slow down the rise of sea temperatures.

-Picture Descriptions-

1. Myself swimming in the water to remove the jellyfish

2. A moon jellyfish floating in the water.

3. A photo taken before I buried the jellyfish in sand.