Japanese authorities are preparing the public for what they believe will be a huge influx of jellyfish on the Japanese coasts this coming fall. The warning comes after spotting huge number of the giant jellyfish in the breeding grounds off of the Chinese coast and believe that thousands of these jellyfish, which are over 6.5 feet (2 meters) wide and can weigh nearly half a ton (over 200 kilograms), will once again be heading for the Japanese coastline.
The first wave of these giant Nomura's jellyfish have been spotted off of the coasts of Kyoto, Shimane, and Niagata. The last time that the shores of Japan saw such an invasion was back in 2005 where they caused massive damage to fishing boats and equipment and several fisherman were injured by their stings.
The large numbers of jellyfish and frequency of their visits to the Japanese coasts have increased over the past view years due to an increase in ocean temperatures which create favorable conditions for the Nomura's jellyfish and a lack of natural predators whose numbers have been decreasing due to fishing, loss of habitat, climate change, and other factors.