When Is Jellyfish Season in the Gulf of Mexico?

Jellyfish season occurs during the summer months when the nettle, moon and Australian jellyfish invade thousands of square miles of the Gulf of Mexico. The jellyfish are proliferate in an area called the Dead Zone, where polluted water from the Mississippi River pours into the Gulf of Mexico and allows for few things to survive other than jellyfish.

The invasion of jellyfish during the summer months greatly affects the shrimping industry. Shrimpers cannot harvest shrimp in the Dead Zone during jellyfish season because the jellyfish will get stuck in their boat engines and weigh down their nets.

The Australian jellyfish is a non-native species that flourishes in the Dead Zone and other areas of the Gulf. Non-native species of jellyfish are brought to the Gulf from currents in the Caribbean.