Did you know that in 1999, the citizens of the island of Luzon (in the Philippines) believed a long-feared coup was underway when the power went out (Stelling, 2016).
The real cause of the power going out wasn’t a military coup, it was jellyfish. A jellyfish bloom had been sucked into water intakes, taking out power stations, data centres and water treatment plants.
In 2006, a jellyfish bloom affected the Ronald Reagan, a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, when the bloom clogged up the water intake for the ship’s reactor (Stelling, 2016).
Stelling, T. (2016) March of the Jellies. New Scientist. 16 July 2016, pp.27-29.