Abstract
Recent invasions of massed jellyfish prompted new studies of these ocean terrors. Scientists were astonished by what they found. If you threw in a dramatic film score, the horror story could play out like an end-of-the-world summer blockbuster. Millions of pulsing blobs invade the planet and wreak havoc. Nuclear power plants shut down as the creatures gum up the water intake valves. Hordes of fish suffocate and die as the blobs swarm around them and suck up the oxygen. In the waters off Spain's Mediterranean coast, swimmers scream in terror as incoming tides are filled with stinging tendrils. Japanese fishing boats radio an alarm that giant swarms of white creatures are approaching from the East China Sea.