BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — A group of service members alerted the international scientific community to a new freshwater species of jellyfish according to the latest issue of Bioscience. The new species has been spotted swarming in shower stalls across US military installations in the landlocked country.
Helen Fox, a marine biologist with the Conservation Science Program, documented her virtual collaboration with a group of soldiers assigned to the Environmental Laboratory of the US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). Their dream of putting the "Afghan White Honey" jellyfish on the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) protected species list is quickly becoming a reality.
"These dedicated soldiers are the real heroes of this noble cause," Fox told Duffel Blog earlier today. "I cannot thank Spc. Hugh E. Rection, Pfc. Harry Ballsonya, and Pvt. Howie Feltersnatch enough. Without them another of Earth's species would be forced into extinction."
Jellyfish in Asia Minor are typically found in the Gulf of Oman, and have never before been seen in the region of the Hindu Kush.
