They’re BACK! Jellyfish in the Boundary Waters

     Yes, you read it right. Freshwater jellyfish have reappeared in the Boundary Waters this past week.  From recent research it sounds like this species normally sits on the bottom of the lake as a polyp but due to, guess what? Rising lake temperatures, the polyps have time to turn into full blown(dime sized) jellyfish.

     According to folks on Saganaga Lake freshwater jellyfish were pouring over Sag Falls the other day by the hundreds of thousands.  The good news is unlike the saltwater jellyfish the freshwater jellyfish are so tiny their tentacles do not sting humans.  They are however big enough to sting zooplankton which they then eat.

     One of the residents on Sag Lake collected some samples and put together a You Tube video so all can enjoy the not so rare sighting of freshwater jellyfish on Saganaga.  If you would like to read more about freshwater jellyfish then check out a previous blog post of mine.