The documentary series examining freak occurrences in the natural world concludes with a look at the discovery of thousands of giant jellyfishin Japanese waters.
On 25th August 2005, Japanese fishermen in the Tsushima Strait made a gruesome discovery as they pulled in their nets. Instead of the expected quota of anchovies and salmon, they had hauled aboard an altogether more deadly catch – thousands of giant Nomura’s jellyfish, with a mass of stinging tentacles and enough venom to kill all of the shocked fishermen. That night, they landed over three tonnes of jellyfish. But little did they know that below the surface, billions more jellyfish were coming up from the deep –some as big as a sumo wrestler.
Net after net was brought aboard containing the same hideous bounty – nothing on this scale had been witnessed before. The fishermen began to slaughter the jellyfish and throw the remains overboard as quickly as they could. But countless more jellyfish were emerging –and heading straight for shore.
Why were these monsters of the deep heading inland?
In Australia –one of the first countries in the firing line of this apparent attack – leading jellyfish expert Dr Jamie Seymour wanted to find out. “They are not just drifting around there like a block of jelly in the ocean,” he explains. “They are making active movements. They know where they want to go –and they can get there at speed.” As well as speed, some jellyfish also have lethal poison. Irukandji and box jellyfish have killed more people in Australia than great white sharks and crocodiles combined, so scientists had to race against time to find an effective anti-venom and treatment. Tonight’s film tells the story of how scientists prepared for the coming invasion, and investigates the threat that still remains.
The documentary sees experts travel around the world diving into the centre of jellyfish swarms to discover what motivates these giant predators. It uncovers the incredible findings from the Japanese research teams in the Tsushima Strait, and investigates the extraordinary experiments that have led scientists to amazing new insights.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5 / 8:00pm
Stephanie
Woww,
I Watched the program, very alarming!
It made me very scared of jelly fish.
It was only a couple of years ago i was catching them and handling them.
Jelly fish stings are harendasly dangerous.
After seeing that frog come back to life it made me think if we could come back to life after being stung?
Does anyone know where the documentry is online?
Thanks.
Jelly Savalas
Yoiks! If jellyfish manage to invade the land, we're all doomed!
Dave Haith
Very interesting - and alarming - programme, full of fascinating facts.
But altho they said the reason the jellyfish were invading the coasts was because they could hunt more easily in shallow waters - they didn't give a reason why it was happening now. Unless I missed that bit.
One assumes it's something to do with humankind and pollution etc or maybe we've killed too many of the fish they feed on in the deep waters.
If anybody knows if this docu is on line somewhere please let me know.