That's smuck, not schmuck. And it's the official term for a swarm of jellyfish, according to Jonathan in the last jellyfish post. The name was just created in 2000 (the need for a name for a swarm of jellyfish, just another shifting baseline). Apparently, after wiping out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm, the smuck has now moved on to Scotland.
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Jennifer Jacquet is a Ph.D. candidate with the Sea Around Us Project at the UBC Fisheries Centre. She works closely with Dr. Daniel Pauly, who coined the term Shifting Baselines, the syndrome on which this blog focuses.
Josh Donlan is a conservation scientist and a Visting Fellow at Cornell University. He often hides out in the backcountry of the Teton Mountains, pondering bygone giant beavers and ground sloths. He also is also the founder and Director of Advanced Conservation Strategies and has a habit of restoring remote islands.
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Smuck Hits Scotland
Category: Losing Track
Posted on: November 23, 2007 6:57 PM, by Jennifer L. Jacquet
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Comments
A similar thing hit Japan some months ago. Honestly, wipe out all the predator fish which would have kept jellyfish larvae in check, what do they expect will happen?
The word "schmuck" does have a certain applicability here, as well.
Posted by: Luna_the_cat | November 25, 2007 11:36 AM
The only time I've ever heard "smuck" used is by Jonathan. In my experience, "smack" is more common, but I think both are acceptable?
Posted by: Lucas | November 25, 2007 5:43 PM
Well, I've noticed that a lot of these collective nouns for animals tend to vary, and 2000 seems long enough past to be in another lifetime. I'm fairly certain we used the term "Smuck" though, as there was definitely emphasis on the fact that it was "Different than Schmuck" and I always used the jelly company "Smuckers" to remember it :)I could certainly be wrong though!
Posted by: Jonathan | November 25, 2007 11:41 PM
Come to think of it, I have heard 'smack' before. And Wiki seems to agree. One thing for sure, we're going to have to nail down the term as the event becomes more and more common!
Posted by: Jennifer L. Jacquet | November 26, 2007 5:59 AM