Additional findings on Sea nettle research that could help curb the population and improve the overall ecological health of the Barnegat Bay will be discussed at a forum next month at Ocean County College in Toms River. 

Barnegat Bay in Toms River
Barnegat Bay in Toms River (Barnegat Bay Alliance)
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The forum is a follow up to the recently announced Bulkhead Blitz pilot project launched by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and demonstrated in the Silverton section of Toms River.

The initiative encourages homeowners to power wash bulkheads and floating docks and scrub away jellyfish polyps that attach to the hard surfaces they need to survive winter. Doing so can prevent the population from further spreading in the spring, according to researchers.

The Sea nettles are more prevalent in northern areas of the bay, including Brick, Lavallette and Toms River, but juvenile forms are making their way further south and in lagoons, according to Thomas Belton, DEP Barnegat Bay Research Coordinator.

"Jellyfish can survive in water that is more eutrophic, where there is lots of nutrients that which caused depressed, dissolved oxygen that other species can't exist in," said Belton.

There might be more nutrients in the northern part of the bay that favor the Sea nettles, according to Belton.

"But also, some of the things that would normally eat them, might have been removed for other reasons," Belton added.

He noted in addition to power washing bulkheads and docks, people should avoid throwing clam shells into the lagoon once they've been eaten the clams because the shells provide a hard surface the jellyfish will attach to.

The DEP and Barnegat Bay Partnership will hold the research forum on November 17, at Ocean County College, 1 College Drive, Toms River, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. For more information on the symposium or the Bulkhead Blitz program, visit www.nj.gov/barnegatbay.

 

 

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