Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Management of Jellyfish Swarms

Abstract

Jellyfish includes creatures that are mostly constituted by water and have a gelatinous consistency. In this chapter, after providing a biological description of these organisms, the scales of variability associated to their life cycle and framing their dynamics in the context of the climate change, I review the diverse initiatives and management of coastal jellyfish swarms. Jellyfish swarms have relevant social and economic implications; however, systematic and periodic data of jellyfish occurrences along beaches is sparse. This data would help us to understand the inter-annual variability of the episodes of high jellyfish abundances and its potential relation to variable environmental conditions. Joint strategies with tools available to scientist, administration, policymakers, and stakeholders can optimize the cost of gathering these in situ data and maximize the benefit obtained from its scientific analysis. Three case studies of jellyfish blooms are presented, from which we can infer the importance of co-creation with stakeholders emerges as a key issue to allow for a solid understanding of the episodes and the implementation of appropriate knowledge-based future mitigation actions.