Researchers discover mysterious blue creatures may survive for years drifting across ocean surface
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- New research from Japan reveals that blue buttons, small blue disc-shaped marine organisms often mistaken for jellyfish, can survive for up to five years floating on the ocean surface, challenging previous beliefs that they lived less than a year.
- The study tracked growth rates of blue button colonies collected from the Kanagawa coast, estimating that smaller colonies grow faster while larger ones grow slowly, with the largest colonies potentially reaching five years in age.
- Blue buttons are colonies of specialized zooids rather than single animals, functioning as living floating systems that support marine food webs by feeding predators and transporting nutrients across the ocean-atmosphere boundary.
- Their longevity is attributed to sturdy, air-chambered chitin floats that provide buoyancy and protection against harsh environmental conditions like UV radiation and waves.
- Researchers advise beachgoers to avoid touching blue buttons due to their stinging cells and recommend reporting unusual strandings to local authorities.