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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Barkham

The barrel jellyfish – gentle giant of the oceans

The barrel jellyfish
The barrel jellyfish, a member of a species that has floated through Earth’s oceans for more than 500m years Composite: Guardian Design / Alamy

Do you pay with crypto, dig the blockchain and drive a Tesla? You’re an early adopter, a future-chaser, right? So, naturally, you’ll vote jelly.

These animals are taking over the ocean. They are the great survivors of evolution – and of the Anthropocene. They are thriving in an era of warming oceans and algal blooms, and when humans have wiped out larger marine predators. Jellyfish can survive when human pollution reduces oxygen levels in the ocean. And so we will embrace their future, our grandchildren tucking into jellyfish and chips.

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