Mahurangimatters 11 January 2011 | 25
Jellyfish - not really fish, mostly jelly The moon jelly, spotted jellyfish and lion’s mane are found in NZ and all three are prevalent in our coastal waters at this time of year. Jellyfish have weak powers of direction, they drift into bays, and tides and currents wash them up. They move by slow pulsing, and try to stay near the surface, as they follow food supplies. They can’t see, they don’t have a brain, and if you are in the water with one, it can probably smell you, if not see you. Strangely, jellyfish do not have a digestive system, respiratory system or even a circulatory system. The moon jellyfish can be recognised by its four pinkish-purple crescent-
shaped gonads, which are easily seen through the top of the bell. The lion’s mane jellyfish is the biggest species of jellyfish in New Zealand waters. The bell can reach a diameter of up to two metres and its tentacles can grow up to 36 metres in length. The spotted jellyfish is reportedly responsible for deaths of farmed salmon in the South Island, because of the mucus they emit. Jellyfish are eaten in Asia, where the bell is cut into strips, like noodles, and fried with sauces and spices. There are about 250 species of jellyfish worldwide. Information courtesy of NIWA’s summer series. The Coastguard Nowcasting locations for the north. These are constantly updated, 24/7, marine wind and weather conditions via VHF radio.
NowCasting expands
Spotted jellyfish
Moon jellyfish on mussel line
Lions mane jellyfish
Moon jellyfish
Hokianga is final location to receive real-time weather information. Mariners in all areas of Coastguard’s northern region can receive the latest marine weather information 24-hours every day by simply turning on their marine radio. The addition of Hokianga now brings the number of Coastguard’s NowCasting broadcasting sites in the region to nine, allowing boaties to access realtime, spoken information on weather conditions at critical locations within the VHF radio coverage area and broadcasts the updates continuously on a range of marine VHF radio channels. The service provides up-to-the-minute local marine wind strength as well as the latest marine weather forecast, local tide times and heights and local safety messages as may be required. The wind data is received by a central computer and then broadcast in speech on VHF radio within seconds. For a full list of Coastguard NowCasting locations and channel information – visit www.coastguard. co.nz and download the map.
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