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Israeli researchers have discovered tiny jellyfish in one of the Golan heights pools. That may not seem too unusual, but the fact that the jellyfish originated in China has people wondering how this happened? Could it be another sign of the world becoming "one big global village?" Our reporter visited the pool.
Researchers in Israel are asking themselves how tiny jellyfish got to a small, isolated Golan Heights waterhole, in the northern part of Israel.
This waterhole named "The Iris Pool" is located near the border between Syria and Israel.
It is one of the most beautiful and well monitored pools in the Golan Heights.
Researchers speculate that birds in the wild are also taking part in the distribution of jellyfish
[Dr. Dana Milstein, Ecological Marine Parks]:
"This species was actually transferred when water plants, animals, and fish were relocated from place to place. When the jellyfish appear in a new place, water birds can also help with that distribution."
Experts say that the jellyfish, which range from five to twenty five millimeters in size, appear only in this pool, only in the form of jellyfish, and only every few years.
[Dr. Dana Milstein, Ecological Marine Parks]:
"Jellyfish have two life phases. One phase is that of a jellyfish, the second phase is where it sits on a plant called a polyp - that is a phase that you cannot observe. It becomes kind of dormant as long as conditions are not optimal. And when the conditions improve it turns back into jellyfish, its normal stage, and again becomes a species that multiplies and distributes itself."
The pool is located in a place only accessible by a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, by bike or on foot.
What impact does this invasive species have on its new home, and is it dangerous to bathe in the pool?