Jellyfish Predation and Fish Recovery in Prince William Sound
Updated: Aug 12
Goal: Determine whether jellyfish predation was limiting the recovery of fish populations in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, several fish, bird, and marine mammal populations in Prince William Sound recovered more slowly than expected. TerrAqua participated in a study to determine whether abundant jellyfish were competing with forage fish, such as Pacific herring, by consuming large quantities of zooplankton—their shared food source.
The research measured jellyfish feeding rates and compared them with available zooplankton populations to assess whether jellyfish predation could significantly reduce food available to fish. The results improved understanding of the ecological factors influencing fish recovery and helped distinguish the effects of oil-spill damage from other natural and environmental processes.
