It’s like some 50s sci-fi film:

Pink, slimy and repellent, the Nomura’s jellyfish is an authentic horror of the deep that’s been assaulting Japan. Now the creatures have sunk a 10-ton fishing trawler.

The boat was capsized off Chiba in Japan, as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura’s jellyfish. Four years after they last reared their slimy heads, and for reasons that remain mysterious, an armada of the gelatinous giants has gathered in the Yellow Sea off China and the Korean peninsula.

Now it has drifted into the Sea of Japan, and brought down the Diasan Shinsho-maru. One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the Nomura’s jellyfish can grow up to 6 feet in length and weigh over 400 pounds.

Economically, it’s not great for Japan and it’s a puzzle why now.  Perhaps the solution is in the Korean film The Host:

Giant squid have been around for years so why not giant jellyfish?  In fact, the round the world speed record catamaran Club Med encountered one of these which held onto its rudder in the middle of the night.  Now it has been caught on film and even has its own Wiki page.

Some speculate that it might have been the giant squid which caused the captain to abandon the Mary Celeste behind the Azores all those years ago.  Certainly, the giant squid theory and even the existence of giant squid were mocked as fantasy until recently.

Isn’t it interesting that things based on reality, like the machinations of Them, are mocked until its so painfully obvious but then it’s too late?

Filed under: Life issues & people