China Dam Blamed For Surge In Jellyfish

FLORA AND FAUNA

Three Gorges Dam in China.

by Staff Writers
Mainichi, China (UPI) Jun 12, 2006
Researchers in Japan have concluded that a surge in the number of giant jellyfish off the Japanese coast is a result of a hydropower dam in China. The jellyfish have a negative effect on the Japanese fishing industry.

The Mainichi Daily News reported that researchers from Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies have suggested that construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China, the world's largest hydropower dam, is responsible for the explosion of the jellyfish population.

Nomura jellyfish, typically found in Japan, measure up to one meter in diameter and can weigh as much as 200 kilograms.

One of the breeding areas for the jellyfish is near the mouth of the Yangtze River, near Shanghai. Construction of the dam is thought to have reduced the production of silicon, which is necessary for the breeding of phytoplankton, the newspaper said.

Researchers plan to examine the relationship between the dam construction and the jellyfish over the next three years.

Source: United Press International

FLORA AND FAUNA

Early Life Was Abundant

Canberra, Australia (SPX) Jun 12, 2006
Life on Earth may well have flourished on Earth 3.43 billion years ago in an environment not too different to the warm little pond that Darwin imagined: a quiet shallow marine environment sandwiched in time between two active volcanic periods.

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