Smuck Hits Scotland

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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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.

By Luna_the_cat (not verified) on 25 Nov 2007 #permalink

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?

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!