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natural justice

submitted by davidp on fri, 2009-04-10 18:33.

I wonder why it is that when humans really abuse the natural world that what we see is grotesque: giant catfish, giant jellyfish…





Is our concept of "grotesque" some kind of Darwinian adaptation?

For some info on Giant Jellyfish, see Jellyfish Gone Wild.


(Interestingly, a few years ago it was discovered that the occurrence of leatherback turtles close to Nova Scotia was not an occasional spin-off from the Gulf Stream, but rather a regular migration northward to eat jellyfish.)

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just filling a niche
submitted by robertkamper on fri, 2009-04-17 17:29.

I read elsewhere that the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is in danger of being all fished out within the next year or two, thanks to homo sapiens...could be that the giant jellies are just filling ecological and evolutionary niches that are being vacated by other species for one reason or another - lack of some predator or competitor at some point in the food chain, one supposes. Unforeseen consequences of butterfly wing flappings, no doubt.

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niche-fill
submitted by davidp on sat, 2009-05-02 11:45.

Yes, I think that's a factor, and like you say, unforseen. The Atlantic lobster may be case in point. Year to year yields (smoothed out) varied widely with oceanographic conditions corresponding to the larval years - until the cod got fished out. Since then they have remained more or less steadily high, although now with intnsive lobster fishing, there are again signs of stress. Similarly, crab and scallops yields have been higher since collapes of the cod. So sometimes it's bad for Homo sapiens, sometimes good, no one from on high is directing it in our favour - or against us!

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