There are two categories of jellyfish swimming: in the ocean and in the lab. Next step: Dig into the scientific literature. So, I basically dropped everything to find out.įirst step: How fast does an Olympian swim? The answer is pretty easily found with a quick Google: about 2.1 meters per second. I had always considered jellyfish rather pokey, but I hadn't ever looked carefully at how fast they can go. (Can you think of a better distraction from the bad news right now?) In Spineless, I wrote one of my favorite chapters on the amazing hydrodynamics of jellyfish. I LOVE thinking about jellyfish swimming. Last week a producer from the BBC's show More or Less contacted me with a question from a listener: Can jellyfish swim as fast as an Olympic swimmer? (I'm guessing this question was in part spurred on by Michael Phelps', umm, race with a shark during Shark Week in 2017.)
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