A rare guest has found his way to Norwegian waters. The “Bidevindseglaren” normally lives in a tropical environment and is between two and ten centimeters long. Now he has been observed along the Norwegian coast. – This is a rare guest, says jellyfish researcher at the Institute of Marine Research Tone Falkenhaug. The tropical species is found in all the world’s oceans, but in warm areas. – That is why it is very unusual for her to appear here. In the last week, she has received four observations of the distinctive jellyfish. The biwind sailfish drifts on the surface in warm seas. Photo: Evan Baldonado / Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0 – Very rare Maneta has been observed in one case previously; on the west side of Lofoten in 2011. Now she is registered through the portal “Dugnad for Havet” at the Tromlingene islands in Southern Norway and at Bulandet and Værlandet in Western Norway. She has also recently been observed in Sweden – for the very first time. – It is very special that she has dealt with the ocean currents so far. There have also been large strandings of this jellyfish in California this year. The biwind sailfish drifts on the surface in warm seas. The body is an oblong, blue print that drifts in the reed crust. On this disc is a seal that sticks up in the air. And this seal is very special, says Falkenhaug. The sail allows the jellyfish to drift where the wind takes it. Photo: Mette Wright Larsen “By-the-wind-sailor” The tiny sail sits at an angle and is twisted either to the right or to the left. Depending on where the jellyfish lives, the sail is twisted so that the prevailing wind will push the jellyfish out from the coast. The sail allows the jellyfish to drift where the wind takes it. That is why she has been named bidevindseglaren in Norwegian, and in English: by-the-wind-sailor. Off the coast of California, it is often the case that the seal faces to the left. The most common wind there is from the north. Northerly winds will therefore push this jellyfish out from land. – She actually lives far out in the sea, but just this year large quantities were washed ashore. In English, the jellyfish is called “by-the-wind-sailor”. Photo: Astrid Thorsen Landøy / Dugnad for the Sea – This year there is a very special weather system which means that there are winds from the south along the west coast of North America. Then this seal will cause the jellyfish to be pushed up onto land. – The fact that the jellyfish has drifted as far as Norway indicates that there have been special ocean currents this year. Must get used to more frequent visits Marine biologist at WWF Verdas naturfond Fredrik Myhre says that the biwind sailfish is related to its better-known cousin, the Portuguese warship, but that she is not as dangerous. – The wind seal also has venom cells, which can be found irritating, but it is not dangerous for us humans. According to Myhre, large colonies of this jellyfish appear at regular intervals, such as in California, but also on the south coast of England or on the Irish islands. – It is a species that typically lives in warmer waters than what we have here at home. But with climate change and warmer water, this may be a species that will appear more often in the future. Myhre adds that we also often get more southern species in Norwegian waters. – It is more common to get reports of sunfish, swordfish, St. Peter’s fish, even dwarf flounder, and other types of slightly warm-loving species now than in the past. A marine biologist at WWF thinks the leeward seal is a beautiful creature. Photo: Geir Barstein / WWF World Wide Fund for Nature Whether the species appear solely because of warmer water or whether it is because people are better at documenting them, the researchers do not know for sure. But the trend is clear, according to Myhre. – There are many species that are in the process of entering Norwegian waters more often, some are even in the process of establishing themselves. Here he mentions the St. Peter’s fish and the Pacific oyster. The latter has given many sore feet.
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