Copernicus

Marine Service USE CASES

JellyX: A Monitoring tool to detect jellyfish swarms

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Extremes, Hazards &

Coastal Services Marine Food
Safety

Overview

Pollution, climate change and marine habitats degradation are

affecting ocean-based industries worldwide. Increasing events of
jellyfish outbreaks that can reach hundreds of individuals per cubic
metre are harmful to marine ecosystems and human health, with
severe impacts on fisheries, tourism and aquaculture. For
instance, jellyfish outbreaks are responsible for major farmed fish
kills, causing profit losses for the global marine aquaculture
industry.
ColomboSky is addressing this issue by offering JellyX, an
advanced web mapping tool for large scale monitoring of jellyfish
swarms and their drift, based on oceanographic data provided by
Copernicus Marine Service. Users can access JellyX online portal
for a real-time update on the risk of jellyfish swarm presence. Our
solution combines remote sensing data with in-situ ground-truth
and oceanographic models, leveraging advanced machine
learning techniques.

Jellyfish swarms interfere with human activities and generate

several issues, such as the collapse of fisheries, clogging of
industrial seawater cooling systems, injuries of bathers and fish
kills in aquaculture plants. Jellyfish outbreaks are estimated to
have caused 40,000 cases of stings along Italian coasts during
the 2007-2011 period, with associated healthcare costs of
approximately 2 million euros per year. With high estimation accuracy of jellyfish presence/absence, JellyX
provides managers with tools for predicting and preventing the economic and societal impacts of jellyfish
outbreaks.

ColomboSky develops remote sensing products for ocean and coastal monitoring. Through the study of
innovative optimization processes, ColomboSky exploits remote sensing information to address the needs of key

COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE

Any question, please contact
servicedesk.cmems@mercator-ocean.eu
http://marine.copernicus.eu
 Copernicus
Marine Service USE CASES

ocean industries, such as marine aquaculture, tourism and energy, reducing risks and economic losses.

Products used

MEDITERRANEAN SEA HIGH RESOLUTION

AND ULTRA HIGH RESOLUTION SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURE ANALYSIS

MEDITERRANEAN SEA BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

ANALYSIS AND FORECAST

MEDITERRANEAN SEA MONTHLY AND DAILY

INTERPOLATED SURFACE CHLOROPHYLL
CONCENTRATION FROM MULTI SATELLITE
AND SENTINEL-3 OLCI OBSERVATIONS

MEDITERRANEAN SEA PHYSICS ANALYSIS

AND FORECAST

Benefits for users Useful links

Improved knowledge-based decision-making ColomboSky Official Website

for the environmental management of coastal JellyX
areas
Effective risk management using a jellyfish
bloom warning service
Improved understanding of jellyfish outbreaks
dynamics and environmental forcing

COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE

Any question, please contact
servicedesk.cmems@mercator-ocean.eu
http://marine.copernicus.eu