Appears so…and they can bite (maybe).
Fresh water jellyfish surface at Bidwell Marina and Lake Oroville
BY PAULA M. FELIPE/Public Safety Reporter
Article Launched: 08/09/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
Freshwater jellyfish in Lake Oroville? Yes, it's true. And, there are "countless," "scores," and even "millions" of them appearing, according to eye witness accounts.
Bidwell Marina Store Supervisor Tara Paul said from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday she witnessed "millions" of Jellyfish covering the surface of the water around the docks at the Bidwell Marina.
"They were floating right on the surface and are the size of a quarter," Tara said. "I was born and raised in Oroville, and two summers ago I would see maybe two or three jellyfish in late summer, but I've never seen as many as I have this year."
Brandon Adkins is a dock crew member who rents the boats and helps customers at the marina.
"Monday night at about 5 p.m. I saw hundreds and hundreds of jellyfish at the marina. They were everywhere and all around the slips where the boats park," Brandon said.
Norm Morgan has driven the shuttle based at Bidwell Marina for the past few years and has been fishing on Lake Oroville for 12 years.
Norm said he has seen a few jellyfish on the lake before, but has never seen the large concentrations that he has seen lately.
"I've also heard some people reporting sightings of jellyfish in the South Fork too," Norm said.
Lieutenant John Kuhn, a long-time fisherman on Lake Oroville, said he saw "countless" jellyfish at the Bidwell Marina. "I also saw jellyfish around a houseboat about two weekends ago on the lake at Bidwell Canyon."
This reporter ventured to the Bidwell Marina at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday and searched for the jellyfish, but only two were found.
"They seem to come out in more numbers after 5 p.m." Brandon said. "You might want to come back later and check again."
Mike Hubbartt of the California Department of Parks and Recreation at the Lake Oroville Visitor's Center is an interpreter on the historical and natural features of Lake Oroville.
Hubbartt confirmed the presence of the freshwater jellyfish on Lake Oroville and provided the following information to the Oroville Mercury-Register.
• Appearance of the jellyfish is "sporadic and unpredictable." Often jellyfish will appear in a body of water in large numbers even though they were never reported there before. The next year they may be absent and may not reappear until several years later. It is also possible for the jellyfish to appear once and never appear in that body of water again…
• Like true jellyfish, these freshwater jellyfish also have stinging cells called cnidocytes. This mechanism is designed for feeding, as the cnidocytes are utilized to paralyze macro invertebrates and even small fish. However, there is no "hard" evidence that these organisms can penetrate human skin (though some have claimed otherwise), according to an expert study on freshwater jellyfish.
