According to one article I found on Yahoo, a spike in jellyfish populations around the world are a sign that nature is out of whack.

Two centuries worth of data shows that jellyfish populations naturally swell every 12 years, remain stable four or six years, and then subside.

2008, however, will be the eighth consecutive year that medusae, as they are also known, will be present in massive numbers.

The over-exploitation of ocean resources by man has helped create a near-perfect environment in which these most primitive of ocean creatures can multiply unchecked, scientists say.

“When vertebrates, such as fish, disappear, then invertebrates — especially jellyfish — appear,” says Aguilar.

In a way, you can kind of say jellyfish are the harbingers of death. That seems kind of mean, considering they don’t even have brains.

At any rate, I hope you don’t mind, but I kind of used the article to share some of my favorite jellyfish pictures from the Monterey Aquarium.