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BBC: Jellyfish tend to congregate in large swarms called blooms, comprising hundreds to millions of organisms. Until recently no one knew exactly how they were able to form and maintain those blooms. Now researchers show that jellyfish can sense ocean currents, actively orient themselves, and swim against the current when necessary. Graeme Hays of Deakin University in Australia and colleagues tagged jellyfish with data loggers to measure their acceleration and orientation; the researchers also used floating sensors to monitor ocean currents. Because jellyfish blooms are proliferating and can disrupt human activities such as swimming and fishing, the researchers hope their findings will allow better predictions of bloom magnitude and movements. However, how the jellyfish know what direction to travel is still unknown.
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To maintain swarm, jellyfish can swim against current Free
23 January 2015