“Poisonous octopuses that are more poisonous than cyanide, swarms of tropical insects, crocodiles, cannibal sharks, and even snakes the size of a man. Is it Korean?”
If you put it together, it’s literally like a Southeast Asian tropical rain forest. However, this is what is happening in Korea these days.
The blue octopus, which has 10 times the poison of cyanide, is originally a creature living in tropical and subtropical seas. However, it is now found not only on Jeju Island but also on the coast of Ulsan.
Recently, there have been reports of snakes in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The identity of the snake is a reticulated python. It mainly lives in tropical forests. The captured snake was 1.5 m long and 400 g long, but when it becomes an adult, it reaches a maximum length of 7.5 m and weighs 160 kg. It is one of the largest snakes in the world.
This snake is an exotic species that does not live in Korea. Administrative authorities such as the Yeongju Fire Station believed that the snake had entered a container from abroad and came to Korea, and handed it over to a zoo in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Although the snake appearance was no more than a commotion, reports of sightings of strange exotic species are continuing every day. As the temperature rises, creatures that can be seen in subtropical climates such as Southeast Asia appear everywhere.
Creatures that live in tropical and subtropical waters are also prominent in the northeast. The blue octopus, which is known to have 10 times the poison of cyanide, was first discovered in the sea of Jeju around 2012 and has since appeared on the coast of Ulsan in the East Sea since 2020.
This can be interpreted as the effect of a marked increase in the temperature of the sea surface. According to the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology ( KIOST ) , the average sea surface temperature in the East Sea from March to May was 10 degrees. It is 1.8 degrees higher than the average temperature between 1991 and 2020, the highest in 42 years since observation began in Korea스포츠토토.
Insects also stand out. The red velvet hair fly is a typical example. They are better known as love bugs because they fly in pairs. Although their life cycle is short, ranging from 3 to 7 days, they have recently disappeared. This is because they attack people and hatch all at once, causing disgust by covering windows, building exterior walls, and mountain peaks in black.
Although the exact route of entry has not been identified yet, it is believed that it was first discovered in Incheon in 2018. The love bug, which was rampant in the northwestern part of Seoul last year, is likely to reappear next year as it spreads throughout Seoul and the metropolitan area this year.
As sharks have been discovered one after another in Samcheok, Gangwon and Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do this month, beaches along the East Coast have installed nets.
It is fortunate that love bugs do not bite people due to their degenerated mouths, but rather are beneficial insects that help clean up the environment, but it is not known what effect alien species will have on the ecosystem and people.
The tropical weasel moth is a representative foreign pest that damages crops. It is known to eat corn and rice as soon as the caterpillars come across. Originally from the Americas, it quickly spread to Africa in 2016, Southeast Asia in 2018, and China and Korea in 2019.
The problem is that organisms introduced from overseas become indigenous under the influence of climate change. It may not be a temporary guest, but a companion to live with.
The National Institute of Biological Resources added 1,802 new species as endemic species last year. Native species are taxa of organisms that are distributed and inhabit only geographically limited areas. In other words, it means that the country has officially recognized it as a new creature that has come to live together on this land.
Not all newly added native organisms are invasive species. Among them, new species that have not been reported to the academic world are also mixed. Among native organisms, it is necessary to pay attention to unrecorded species that are distributed in other countries but first discovered in Korea. An increase in unrecorded species can be interpreted as an increase in species introduced from abroad due to climate change.
Last year, there were 1237 unrecorded native species. Although it is still too early to conclude that the number of unrecorded species imported from abroad is increasing remarkably, the National Institute of Biological Resources is also monitoring the increase significantly.
An official from the Biodiversity Research Division at the National Institute of Biological Resources explained, “Previously, unrecorded species have not been investigated, but since last year, we have been separately classifying them.”