Jellyfish Spotted, And Rescued, From Twin Cities Lake

RICHFIELD, MN — Taft Lake is doing just fine, and apparently hosting some surprise guests.

Routine water testing shows the lake continues to meet all state water-quality standards. But during a recent inspection, Richfield staff spotted something no one really expects to see in a suburban Minnesota lake: two jellyfish drifting around like they owned the place.

See a video of them here.

The city says these freshwater jellyfish aren’t native to Minnesota, but they’re also not invasive and pose no threat to the lake.

Most of the time, they live as tiny polyps on the lake bottom. Only when the conditions, temperature, food, and timing, line up just right do they switch into their swimming “medusa” form.

And luckily for them, someone noticed. They were thankfully rescued a few days before the weather turned bitterly cold, conditions that likely would have frozen them.

So while Taft Lake remains in solid ecological shape, it also briefly doubled as a temporary jellyfish hangout with a surprisingly happy ending.