The shutdown of one of the nation's oldest nuclear power plants last year is having a surprising, stinging consequence for a New Jersey bay considered to be one of the nation's most fragile.
Tiny jellyfish that had been sucked into the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant and killed by heated water are now thriving and multiplying.
The environmental group Save Barnegat Bay held a conference Wednesday where scientists noted the increase of stinging sea nettles in the bay.
This Oct. 17, 2019 photo shows the shoreline of Barnegat Bay in Waretown, N.J., near where the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant used to operate. Scientists say the shutdown of the power plant in Sept. 2018 is having an unintended consequence in the bay: an increase in populations of stinging jellyfish that had been killed after being sucked into the heated water coursing through the power plant while it operated. (AP PhotoWayne Parry)
Oyster Creek, which closed in September 2018, had been altering conditions in the bay for decades, discharging water that was 10 degrees hotter than normal.
Fish and crab populations could benefit from the shutdown, even as species that were drawn to the warmer waters now leave the area.
This Oct. 17, 2019 photo shows the shoreline of Barnegat Bay in Waretown, N.J., near where the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant used to operate. Scientists say the shutdown of the power plant in Sept. 2018 is having an unintended consequence in the bay: an increase in populations of stinging jellyfish that had been killed after being sucked into the heated water coursing through the power plant while it operated. (AP PhotoWayne Parry)
This Oct. 17, 2019 photo shows the shoreline of Barnegat Bay in Waretown, N.J., near where the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant used to operate. Scientists say the shutdown of the power plant in Sept. 2018 is having an unintended consequence in the bay: an increase in populations of stinging jellyfish that had been killed after being sucked into the heated water coursing through the power plant while it operated. (AP PhotoWayne Parry)
