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Stung!: On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean
Our oceans are becoming increasingly inhospitable to life—growing toxicity and rising temperatures coupled with overfishing have led many marine species to the brink of collapse. And yet there is one creature that is thriving in this seasick the beautiful, dangerous, and now incredibly numerous jellyfish. As foremost jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin describes in Stung!, the jellyfish population bloom is highly indicative of the tragic state of the world’s ocean waters, while also revealing the incredible tenacity of these remarkable creatures.
Recent documentaries about swarms of giant jellyfish invading Japanese fishing grounds and summertime headlines about armadas of stinging jellyfish in the Mediterranean and Chesapeake are only the beginning—jellyfish are truly taking over the oceans. Despite their often dazzling appearance, jellyfish are simple creatures with simple namely, fewer predators and competitors, warmer waters to encourage rapid growth, and more places for their larvae to settle and grow. In general, oceans that are less favorable to fish are more favorable to jellyfish, and these are the very conditions that we are creating through mechanized trawling, habitat degradation, coastal construction, pollution, and climate change.
Despite their role as harbingers of marine destruction, jellyfish are truly enthralling creatures in their own right, and in Stung! , Gershwin tells stories of jellyfish both attractive and deadly while illuminating many interesting and unusual facts about their behaviors and environmental adaptations. She takes readers back to the Proterozoic era, when jellyfish were the top predator in the marine ecosystem—at a time when there were no fish, no mammals, and no turtles; and she explores the role jellies have as middlemen of destruction, moving swiftly into vulnerable ecosystems. The story of the jellyfish, as Gershwin makes clear, is also the story of the world’s oceans, and Stung! provides a unique and urgent look at their inseparable histories—and future.
Recent documentaries about swarms of giant jellyfish invading Japanese fishing grounds and summertime headlines about armadas of stinging jellyfish in the Mediterranean and Chesapeake are only the beginning—jellyfish are truly taking over the oceans. Despite their often dazzling appearance, jellyfish are simple creatures with simple namely, fewer predators and competitors, warmer waters to encourage rapid growth, and more places for their larvae to settle and grow. In general, oceans that are less favorable to fish are more favorable to jellyfish, and these are the very conditions that we are creating through mechanized trawling, habitat degradation, coastal construction, pollution, and climate change.
Despite their role as harbingers of marine destruction, jellyfish are truly enthralling creatures in their own right, and in Stung! , Gershwin tells stories of jellyfish both attractive and deadly while illuminating many interesting and unusual facts about their behaviors and environmental adaptations. She takes readers back to the Proterozoic era, when jellyfish were the top predator in the marine ecosystem—at a time when there were no fish, no mammals, and no turtles; and she explores the role jellies have as middlemen of destruction, moving swiftly into vulnerable ecosystems. The story of the jellyfish, as Gershwin makes clear, is also the story of the world’s oceans, and Stung! provides a unique and urgent look at their inseparable histories—and future.
456 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
45 people are currently reading
945 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
June 15, 2013
This is the best and most frightening book on climate change I've read to date. It's not simply about jellyfish but about how the rise in jellyfish blooms and populations around the world's oceans is the result of warming, polluted, and overfished waters. It's engagingly written and frequently humorous, but it lays out the state of the earth's oceans, and by extension the planet, in stark, unmistakable terms. Required reading.
October 29, 2022
vitun hyvä kirja kyllä ja kiinnostava. ylikalastus, ilmastonmuutos, rehevöityminen, muut saasteet ja vieraslajit tekee meduusoista (engl. jellyfish) maailman merten valtiaan. me ollaan kruunattu ne ja ojennettu valtikka ihan ite.
tärkeä käsite: shifting baseline - ihmiset vertaa nykytilaa niiden menneisyydessä kokemaan tilaan, joka itse asiassa on edellisen sukupolven kokemaa aiempaa tilaa huonompi.
masentaa ja on pettyny olo koko ihmiskuntaan, aina itsestä mua ympäröiviin ihmisiin. vaikka samalla ymmärrys tiedonpuutteesta ja mahdollisuuksien puutteesta, mutta myös iso viha, kun ihmiset, joilla on tieto, mahdollisuus ja valta ei toimi paremmin. turhauttaa yksilöiden ylivastuutus ja yritysten/instituutioiden vastuun huomioimatta jättäminen ja toisaalta hissunkissun "ei se yksilöiden vika oo" yksilöiden vastuun huomioimatta jättäminen. lopussa: adapt. joka on vaikeaa, kun miettii, mitä meret oli ennen: täynnä valaita, kaloja ja elämää.
oon pariisissa. olin synteettisen bilsan kilpailun igemin konferenssissa. joukkuekaverit nauraa parvekkeella ja mietin sängyssä, mitä tehtävää minulle jää ja minkä ottaa, kun on tuhansia ja tiede ei aina johda suoraviivaisiin lopputuloksiin vaan edessä on eittämättä myös umpikujia... mihin synbio voi tarjota vastauksia...? ja onko ne riittävän suurellisia...? ja mitä uhkakuvia tähän liittyy..? ja riittääkö mineraalit ja mitä päästöjä synbion teknologioista tuottuu...?
tärkeä käsite: shifting baseline - ihmiset vertaa nykytilaa niiden menneisyydessä kokemaan tilaan, joka itse asiassa on edellisen sukupolven kokemaa aiempaa tilaa huonompi.
masentaa ja on pettyny olo koko ihmiskuntaan, aina itsestä mua ympäröiviin ihmisiin. vaikka samalla ymmärrys tiedonpuutteesta ja mahdollisuuksien puutteesta, mutta myös iso viha, kun ihmiset, joilla on tieto, mahdollisuus ja valta ei toimi paremmin. turhauttaa yksilöiden ylivastuutus ja yritysten/instituutioiden vastuun huomioimatta jättäminen ja toisaalta hissunkissun "ei se yksilöiden vika oo" yksilöiden vastuun huomioimatta jättäminen. lopussa: adapt. joka on vaikeaa, kun miettii, mitä meret oli ennen: täynnä valaita, kaloja ja elämää.
oon pariisissa. olin synteettisen bilsan kilpailun igemin konferenssissa. joukkuekaverit nauraa parvekkeella ja mietin sängyssä, mitä tehtävää minulle jää ja minkä ottaa, kun on tuhansia ja tiede ei aina johda suoraviivaisiin lopputuloksiin vaan edessä on eittämättä myös umpikujia... mihin synbio voi tarjota vastauksia...? ja onko ne riittävän suurellisia...? ja mitä uhkakuvia tähän liittyy..? ja riittääkö mineraalit ja mitä päästöjä synbion teknologioista tuottuu...?
September 25, 2013
I have read quite a few books on global climate change and the state of the oceans but this is the first title that tells how impossible it is to go back to what we had. The interplay of different species, plant and animal, is so complex that any change begins a chain of events that change the oceans forever. This we do not hear from our media or environmental organizations.
It is fascinating to read of the processes and individual creatures response but quite depressing to learn how bad the situation is. We really should know what is happening.
It is fascinating to read of the processes and individual creatures response but quite depressing to learn how bad the situation is. We really should know what is happening.
August 25, 2015
Lisa-Ann Gershwin has written a book comparable to Silent Spring in it's doom laden research and predictions. She painstakingly records and explains how the rise in jellyfish blooms is symptomatic of very serious degradations of marine environments all over the world and warns that the likelihood is that we will see increased crashing of species even when humans have not interfered. Her description of the crash of the Aleutian sea otter populations and of the fate of the Black Sea fish populations is seriously depressing. The ubiquity of the lion's mane jellyfish in the Yangtze River only three years after the celebrated damming of said river is another example of the catastrophic consequence of the natural environment of man's arrogance and ignorance. For some glimmer of hope. Checkout HOPE http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-... and then get writing and lobbying everyone you can to take action now.
Lisa-Ann's parting word of advice.... ADAPT.
How far global warming may be contributing to jellyfish blooms is perhaps a moot point. What really gets to me is that we have known about the perils of over-fishing and polluting our marine and sea shore environments for decades. Of grubbing up mangrove swamps and generally exploiting wildernesses. These are all things that CAN be changed but there has never been enough political will around the world to do it .
What is your response? Sit back and watch it happening shaking your head sadly and feeling sorry for the next generations? Or taking whatever action you can?
Lisa-Ann's parting word of advice.... ADAPT.
How far global warming may be contributing to jellyfish blooms is perhaps a moot point. What really gets to me is that we have known about the perils of over-fishing and polluting our marine and sea shore environments for decades. Of grubbing up mangrove swamps and generally exploiting wildernesses. These are all things that CAN be changed but there has never been enough political will around the world to do it .
What is your response? Sit back and watch it happening shaking your head sadly and feeling sorry for the next generations? Or taking whatever action you can?
September 23, 2013
A very good account of the state of the Oceans. Well written with some very catchy phrases. A touch too much repetition of facts made some sections a little hard to plough through.
Overall the most depressing thing I have ever read. A must read!
Overall the most depressing thing I have ever read. A must read!
May 27, 2024
This author used jellyfish as the canary in the coal mines for the cascading processes that are occuring in the world's oceans. Super interesting and intricate.
November 27, 2014
Lisa-ann Gershwin speaks with a wry and authoritative voice throughout this matter-of-fact, no-holds-barred look into the developing desolation of the world's oceans. The text is arranged in a logical and cumulative way by topic, much like a textbook is arranged, with a survey section followed by more detailed and focused explanations. Gershwin writes with a slightly informal tone that feels like she is speaking to the reader directly, and she captures the reader's attention skillfully.
The subject matter--eutrophication of the world's oceans and subsequent colonization by jellyfish--is brutally serious, and this is not a fun read. Gershwin builds her case block by apocalyptic block through the collapse of the world's fisheries, the increase in Dead Zones in both number and area, and increased pollution. She doesn't touch on global climate change until two-thirds through; by that time, the reader is well aware of the gravity and extent of anthropogenic disruption to the oceans' ecosystems that discussion of climate change is nearly redundant.
After demonstrating what we have destroyed, Gershwin informs us of what we have created: the loss of large predatory fish and the collapse of high energy food chains based on muscle and blood to low-energy food chains based on gelatin. The food chains that replace decimated fisheries are stable and prevent larval fishes from growing and restocking the fishery. At the top of this low-energy food chain (the apex predator) is the jellyfish.
One problem some readers may have is that Gershwin assumes some small high-school level understanding of biology. She rarely defines terms, and she does not waste time rehashing basic ecological concepts. I was relieved by this, but some readers may find this daunting. But there is nothing someone couldn't understand from a quick internet search.
Essential reading, and the forward by Sylvia Earle is a delightful bonus.
The subject matter--eutrophication of the world's oceans and subsequent colonization by jellyfish--is brutally serious, and this is not a fun read. Gershwin builds her case block by apocalyptic block through the collapse of the world's fisheries, the increase in Dead Zones in both number and area, and increased pollution. She doesn't touch on global climate change until two-thirds through; by that time, the reader is well aware of the gravity and extent of anthropogenic disruption to the oceans' ecosystems that discussion of climate change is nearly redundant.
After demonstrating what we have destroyed, Gershwin informs us of what we have created: the loss of large predatory fish and the collapse of high energy food chains based on muscle and blood to low-energy food chains based on gelatin. The food chains that replace decimated fisheries are stable and prevent larval fishes from growing and restocking the fishery. At the top of this low-energy food chain (the apex predator) is the jellyfish.
One problem some readers may have is that Gershwin assumes some small high-school level understanding of biology. She rarely defines terms, and she does not waste time rehashing basic ecological concepts. I was relieved by this, but some readers may find this daunting. But there is nothing someone couldn't understand from a quick internet search.
Essential reading, and the forward by Sylvia Earle is a delightful bonus.
September 27, 2013
This is an excellent, engaging book. I learned a lot about ocean ecology. Sadly, the oceans are pretty much fucked as far as vertebrate life goes. The author says she started research for this book with some optimism and a sense that things could still be fixed, but now she says "I think I understimated how severely we have damaged our oceans and their inhabitants. I now think that we have pushed them too far, past some mysterious tipping point that came and went without fanfare, with no red circle on the calendar and without us knowing the precise moment it all became irreversible. I now sincerely believe that it is only a matter of time before the oceans as we know them and need them to be become very different places indeed."
She doesn't try to address how we should cope with the knowledge that the oceans are dying. She's a marine biologist, not a philosopher. This is one of the strengths of the book. She editorializes a bit, but mostly she just describes. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The information in it is saddening, but I think it's important to know.
She doesn't try to address how we should cope with the knowledge that the oceans are dying. She's a marine biologist, not a philosopher. This is one of the strengths of the book. She editorializes a bit, but mostly she just describes. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The information in it is saddening, but I think it's important to know.
June 30, 2021
I think about this book more often that I would like to admit. Before reading it, I could have never imagined how important the role of jellyfish was to the marine and freshwater ecosystems of the world. This book explains in a clear and informed way how everything in the ocean is interconnected to the detail. Knowing about it gives us the respect we should have for the natural world and helps us rethink about the ways in which we have irreversibly disturbed it. There is nothing we do that doesn’t have consequences, and the amount of impacts we have performed is already starting to fight back. Nature is one gigantic loop; if you disturb just one little aspect of the cycle, the whole system collapses. And we have done more than interrupting a single stage. So yes! We should be frightened!
Want to read
September 9, 2013"In November 2009 a net full of gigantic jellyfish, the largest of which weighed over 450 pounds, capsized a Japanese trawler, throwing the three-man crew into the ocean. But even mightier vessels have been vanquished by jellyfish." -http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
Which is fascinating, but this book actually looks pretty terrifying. Def going to pick this one up after I finish Wolves in the Land of Salmon.
Which is fascinating, but this book actually looks pretty terrifying. Def going to pick this one up after I finish Wolves in the Land of Salmon.
October 4, 2013
OMG! If you never thought much about the ocean before but have a smattering of ecological awareness and science this is the book that does what it says - links jellyfish blooms to the crisis in our oceans and their impact on our future way of life. Absolutely fascinating. Not maybe a book to sit down and read all in one go, but a book to dip into again and again, and to read over and over. I certainly came away much the wiser, and sadder, and both appreciative and wary of jellyfish. UK coast sports the Lion's Mane which is a hefty stinger as my small grandson knows to his distress this summer. And did you know that there is one jellyfish that, biologically, is IMMORTAL?!?! Wow.
August 6, 2014
Jellyfish blooms are occurring more frequently with ocean acidification because jellyfish adapt to an environment that is no longer hospitable to other species. Gershwin explains this important issue in this book, as well as the devastation caused when millions of jellies multiply quickly and clog machinery and kill off fish and other species. I read half of this book and decided not to finish it. The tone is terrifying, and half was enough to get the gist of the problem. Visuals are important when trying to understand different jellies, and unfortunately the plates in this book are difficult to decipher.
July 6, 2014
Well, the oceans as we know them are fucked. Although a little dense and overly technical at times, this book paints a terrifying and bleak picture of what is happening to our oceans. We have done some irreversible damage: damn it humanity, talk about shitting where you eat.
It's about a lot more than jellyfish. If you want your optimism challenged, read this. If you eat fish or seafood read this. If you like the ocean, read this. Just read this.
Also, jellyfish are basically indestructible and sound like aliens.
It's about a lot more than jellyfish. If you want your optimism challenged, read this. If you eat fish or seafood read this. If you like the ocean, read this. Just read this.
Also, jellyfish are basically indestructible and sound like aliens.
December 10, 2023
Fascinating facts about jellyfish and how they are interconnected with climate change and the total collapse of fish stocks around the world. It is full of incredible information but so repetitive and poorly organized that I struggled to get through it. I wish it had a very good summary and also better photos.
It reads like a textbook and I would love for a layperson's version to be printed so that everybody would know the facts contained within this book. Terrifying!
It reads like a textbook and I would love for a layperson's version to be printed so that everybody would know the facts contained within this book. Terrifying!
January 17, 2014
A no-nonsense and extremely factual read about the health of the world's oceans. A mixture sadness and anger resonated within me as I read how things had come to what they are now. I definitely cannot look at seafood the same way again and eat it with as much enjoyment as I did before.
January 26, 2014
I knew our oceans where in bad shape - but I had no idea how bad it has gotten. I had a sick feeling in my stomach they day I finished this book. The evidence presented in shocking.
December 13, 2013
Well written and researched but wow is this depressing!
July 28, 2024
I was hoping, honestly, for more content on jellyfish. However, there is very little information on them in the book. The book is mostly on ocean damage in the anthropocene, and as a sideline or running theme, on how jellyfish influence or are influenced by this new regime in the ocean. This party is on me. I'm the one that expected a different book. The subtitle is very clear.
Much of this is because so little is known about jellyfish compared to other more commercially or culturally valued taxa. Unfortunately I recently read a book by Callum Roberts, and I'm currently also reading a book by Carl Safina. A lot of times this book seems to repeat their content with a quick "and this might be worsened by jellyfish" aside. There are no graphs or maps. The images are helpful.
Often there are big concepts that are introduced piecemeal but not adequately developed. For example: p. 275 "trophic dead end." That's a big and important idea but it's not really developed in full, and it also contradicts some passages where jellyfish are blamed for not sinking enough carbon. Yes, a thing and its opposite can both be problems, but that needs to be addressed.
The author is clearly a qualified taxonomist, but unnecessarily simplifies or glosses over taxonomy at times. For example: "single celled marine 'plants' (well, algae, really) called diatoms." Diatoms aren't really algae either, and algae are not a clade so why insert two misleading classifications and prefer one over the other, when neither is necessary?
The concept of muscle food chain and jelly food chain is interesting, and should have been presented earlier I think.
The parts about radioactivity seemed a bit off. At one point, the author even writes: "mind you, there's no evidence; it just seems reasonable." Not to me, but sure...
The fisheries data is already pretty outdated (Alaskan perspective here), and the book would seem less dated if there had been more emphasis on fundamental, not typical or anecdotal, research.
Much of this is because so little is known about jellyfish compared to other more commercially or culturally valued taxa. Unfortunately I recently read a book by Callum Roberts, and I'm currently also reading a book by Carl Safina. A lot of times this book seems to repeat their content with a quick "and this might be worsened by jellyfish" aside. There are no graphs or maps. The images are helpful.
Often there are big concepts that are introduced piecemeal but not adequately developed. For example: p. 275 "trophic dead end." That's a big and important idea but it's not really developed in full, and it also contradicts some passages where jellyfish are blamed for not sinking enough carbon. Yes, a thing and its opposite can both be problems, but that needs to be addressed.
The author is clearly a qualified taxonomist, but unnecessarily simplifies or glosses over taxonomy at times. For example: "single celled marine 'plants' (well, algae, really) called diatoms." Diatoms aren't really algae either, and algae are not a clade so why insert two misleading classifications and prefer one over the other, when neither is necessary?
The concept of muscle food chain and jelly food chain is interesting, and should have been presented earlier I think.
The parts about radioactivity seemed a bit off. At one point, the author even writes: "mind you, there's no evidence; it just seems reasonable." Not to me, but sure...
The fisheries data is already pretty outdated (Alaskan perspective here), and the book would seem less dated if there had been more emphasis on fundamental, not typical or anecdotal, research.
January 2, 2018
A clear account of anthropogenic change in our oceans by industrialization, fishing technologies, human waste, agricultural runoff, and climate change which allows for jellyfish species to become the top predator in a simplified ecology change by scientist Lisa-Ann Gershwin.
This is the best general summary book on the subject should be read by everyone. The reporting of the big picture in concise language that is understandable. She writes not only about jellyfish and jellyfish blooms but goes into a deep understanding of why jellyfish may once again become the apex predator replacing sharks, whales, seals, et.al.
The disruption of the ocean ecology due to overfishing of apex predators in conjunction with the decimation of species of phytoplankton, diatoms, and other bottom level organisms that form the foundation of the food chain(s) allows for simplification and monoculturism of ocean ecologies. Ecological disruptions of local habitats due to the introduction of alien species and human generated industrial/agricultural waste give rise to the weedy predator jellyfish.
As Lisa-ann Gershwin closes upon a clear note that the anthropogenic ocean ecological changes being instigated, without real actionable changes by nations, will mean that humanity will have to adapt. What that adaption will be is left open for the coming generations.
This is the best general summary book on the subject should be read by everyone. The reporting of the big picture in concise language that is understandable. She writes not only about jellyfish and jellyfish blooms but goes into a deep understanding of why jellyfish may once again become the apex predator replacing sharks, whales, seals, et.al.
The disruption of the ocean ecology due to overfishing of apex predators in conjunction with the decimation of species of phytoplankton, diatoms, and other bottom level organisms that form the foundation of the food chain(s) allows for simplification and monoculturism of ocean ecologies. Ecological disruptions of local habitats due to the introduction of alien species and human generated industrial/agricultural waste give rise to the weedy predator jellyfish.
As Lisa-ann Gershwin closes upon a clear note that the anthropogenic ocean ecological changes being instigated, without real actionable changes by nations, will mean that humanity will have to adapt. What that adaption will be is left open for the coming generations.
January 31, 2024
One of the most important detailed studies on squid and the effects of climate changes on the ecosystem I have read. Well documented research by Ms.Gershwin as well as giving a great overview of what we can do with this data. This is a great resource for understanding how the ocean is being used and what is needed to protect it. I highly recommend reading this book starting from preschool to college students and beyond. It's so helpful that after reading it you can not say that you are not prepared for the climate changes were to begin with solutions.
January 19, 2025
It interesting to be a participant in a mass extinction event. Well not it’s not, it is depressing, disgusting, and shameful.
Homo sapien means wise man, maybe we should be Homo moronic. A selfish, greedy, destroyer of worlds. I hope what comes after us will be something kinder.
This book should be mandatory reading, if you care about the current environment, read and get angry, read it as a call to action.
Homo sapien means wise man, maybe we should be Homo moronic. A selfish, greedy, destroyer of worlds. I hope what comes after us will be something kinder.
This book should be mandatory reading, if you care about the current environment, read and get angry, read it as a call to action.
October 24, 2017
The content was interesting but all of the ellipses drove me crazy.
October 1, 2019
I will cut back on the fish I eat after reading this. It is a wake-up call on the condition of our oceans.
April 28, 2023
fascinating and scary all at the same time. this book paints a bleak picture. its hard to see that we will get our act together enough to save ourselves.
Read
September 2, 2025A great book on the changing state of our oceans and the place jellyfish occupy in them. Lisa-Ann Gershwin does a fantastic job laying out the main threats facing our oceans today (over-fishing, eutrophication, invasive species, climate change, and ocean acidification) and displaying how these environmental changes favor a jellyfish dominated ocean.
Gershwin excellently explains the webs of life in the ocean and how minor disruptions can have big effects through feedback loops, trophic cascades, and shifting equilibriums. These sections are great at showing how there is no "primary cause" for the detrimental changes in the ocean but rather multiple, interweaving causes that support different webs of life. And once the oceans have been changed, it is not so easy changing them back.
My only criticism of the book is that it does not really examine how our behavior will change in jellyfish dominated oceans. How will coastal fisherman adapt to fish-less waters? What will this mean for supply chains? I guess these questions remain for the ambitious ethnographer.
Gershwin excellently explains the webs of life in the ocean and how minor disruptions can have big effects through feedback loops, trophic cascades, and shifting equilibriums. These sections are great at showing how there is no "primary cause" for the detrimental changes in the ocean but rather multiple, interweaving causes that support different webs of life. And once the oceans have been changed, it is not so easy changing them back.
My only criticism of the book is that it does not really examine how our behavior will change in jellyfish dominated oceans. How will coastal fisherman adapt to fish-less waters? What will this mean for supply chains? I guess these questions remain for the ambitious ethnographer.
May 24, 2015
OK, so I was really looking forward to this book. way to many cute phrases. got annoyed early on, but was digging the information on jelly fish. then I found an error, caused by get despite to be cute. really annoying. my bachelor thesis advisor told me "you have to kill your darlings." meaning you got to delete all those churr phrases that you love, because they fall flat to the reader. the final draw was when she said the logs Angeles river drains into Santa Monica bay dining agricultural run off. wrong on so many levels. the river drains into LA harbor, not the bay. they are twenty five miles apart. second, the river is not much of a river and really dumps industrial and residential waste. there is little agriculture left in the LA river water shed.
how can I trust anything else she says?
how can I trust anything else she says?
April 21, 2016
I came to this book through Tim Flannery's review of it in the New York Review of Books (which you can read here: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/...
And you get a fair sense of the story Lisa-Ann Gershwin wants to tell in the headline that journal gave Flannery's piece: "they're taking over!"
This book shimmers with all that is remarkable about these creatures – how long they've been around; how well they can adapt – and how that might carry them on through however our future oceans turn out to be. Food for thought, in so many different directions – and perhaps they'll end up being food itself, if they do manage to take over our seas.
And you get a fair sense of the story Lisa-Ann Gershwin wants to tell in the headline that journal gave Flannery's piece: "they're taking over!"
This book shimmers with all that is remarkable about these creatures – how long they've been around; how well they can adapt – and how that might carry them on through however our future oceans turn out to be. Food for thought, in so many different directions – and perhaps they'll end up being food itself, if they do manage to take over our seas.
May 12, 2016
Disturbing book: Wonderfully written, comprehensive discussion of a fascinating species.
Unfortunately Jellyfish look like they will inherit the oceans that we have made untenable for other species.
After books like this it is hard to listen to childish discussions about why we don't need to worry about climate change or why fishing quotas are bad. I love the sea, the idea that the kids in my world will not be enter the sea because of jelly fish is disturbing.
Unfortunately Jellyfish look like they will inherit the oceans that we have made untenable for other species.
After books like this it is hard to listen to childish discussions about why we don't need to worry about climate change or why fishing quotas are bad. I love the sea, the idea that the kids in my world will not be enter the sea because of jelly fish is disturbing.
January 17, 2017
This book is an eye-opening account of man-kind's impact on the oceans. Gershwin does an excellent job of conveying her message through the use of real world examples. The book is laid out in a very organized way that brakes down every topic regardless of how complicated it may be. Gershwin points out how jellyfish capitalize on the devastated ocean ecosystems that we have created. Her sense of humor lightens the mood and makes this book a good read for nonfiction lovers.
February 5, 2015
Spectacular! You don't have to have an interest in jellyfish, or any marine life for that matter, to love this book. What a great insight to what's happening around the world in every sea and ocean. Who would have thought that jellyfish could have such a huge impact on the oceans?! Worth reading! LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews