Jersey Shore Magazine

j e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 45 Jerry Meaney Meany's posts of the dangerous box jellyfish—an extremely rare find for New Jersey coastal waters—went viral, catching the attention of many organizations, and was featured on the Weather Channel's website. certain that it was of the Tamoya haplonema species. In April 2015, scientists confirmed Collins' hypoth- esis through DNA testing. Experts believe that the jellyfish may have ridden the Gulf Stream north, and a storm may have directed them towards the Jersey Shore. In May 2015, as the summer sea- son approached, Meaney was featured on a Weather Channel segment about the rarity of box jellyfish sightings and the dangers associated with them. Originally broadcast on May 19, the video is one of the most popular on the Weather Channel's website, with over one million views. Meaney said, "I was able to get the word out about this dangerous creature, and more people know about them now. Hopefully they will listen to the experts and not touch them if they happen to encounter a box jellyfish." While several Portuguese man 'o wars were discovered along Ocean County beaches this summer, Meaney has not seen any box jellyfish since last year. "I still look every day. You never know what is going to be swimming around in our waters," he said. The Rewards With so many negative stories about social media frequently in the news, both Meaney and Auciello have demonstrated the many positive aspects through their tireless admin- istration of their respective Facebook pages. "The Barnegat Bay Island page definitely serves the community," said Meaney. "While I do not post a lot about the weather or traffic like JSHN does, we share information with each other through messages, and what the community needs to know, they know from either or both the BBI and JSHN pages." Auciello echoed Meaney's senti- ments, saying, "The rewards are day to day. What I enjoy most is that I never know what is going to happen that day. Both the JSHN and BBI pages, while a bit different in style, take an active role in the community. I have found the good side of social media. People ultimately do care about each other, and that is proven over and over on our pages." With the ideas of informing and helping at the forefront, both the Barnegat Bay Island and Jersey Shore Hurricane News pages connect hun- dreds of thousands of people from near and far and bring news from the Jersey Shore worldwide every day. u For more information: Barnegat Bay Island: Facebook: facebook.com/BarnegatBayIsland YouTube: youtube.com/user/jerry83697 Jersey Shore Hurricane News: Facebook: JerseyShoreHurricaneNews Twitter: @JSHurricaneNews, @auciello Instagram: @js.hn Email: jerseyshorehurricanenews@gmail.com Websites: www.newsworks.org/index.php/ down-the-shore and justinauciello.com On October 21, 2014, the same day he photographed the box jellyfish in Point Pleasant Beach, Meaney photographed this waterspout off Lavallette.

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