Thousands of blue jellyfish clog cooling system in Israeli power plant
Thousands of jellyfish clogged up a cooling system and threatened to suspend production at a power plant in Israel.
Video filmed at the Electric Company power plant on Thursday shows the light blue sea creatures being swept down a chute and into a bin.
The power plant, based in the coastal city of Ashkelon, about 15 miles north of the Gaza strip, uses seawater to cool its systems.
Employees at the site put in overtime to remove the swarm of jellyfish from the plant, allowing work to continue.
“Since last night, Ashkelon power plant workers struggled against a wave of thousands of jellyfish that came into the station via the seawater,” the company wrote in a statement on its Facebook page.
“For the Electric Company, this is a real danger that can disrupt the production processes at the station.”
Summer marks the start of jellyfish season in Israel when thousands of the creatures swarm the coastline.
The most common type of jellyfish found on beaches is the Rhopilema nomadica, otherwise known as “nomad” jellyfish, according to a website monitoring sightings of jellyfish along the coast.
The nomad jellyfish are usually found on the shores of India but have been able to make their way to Israel via the Suez canal, according to the website, affiliated with Haifa University.
They were reportedly first spotted in Israel in the summer of 1976, some 100 years after the opening of the canal that connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
Jellyfish begin arriving in Israel when the sea temperature ranges between 28.2C and 30C and a full moon rises, according to researchers at the university.
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