Swarms of jellyfish have plagued the coastline of Spain forcing holiday makers off the country’s most popular beaches such as several on the Costa Blanca, north of Alicante it’s thought to be the worst invasion of the Mauve Stinger jellyfish for two years, which is why resorts have taken such drastic action as to ban people from the beaches and from swimming.
Although these bright purple jellyfish deliver only mild stings they have been known to cause severe allergic reactions and can even lead to heart failure in some people, at one point the Red Cross treated 50 people for the effects of stings in just half an hour on a beach in Denia, which mean it could reach the levels of 2008, when 4,000 people were needed treatment in Denia alone.
Each year around two million tourists visit the popular Spanish resort of Denia, with some 800,000 of them from Britain, with this new invasion of jelly fish its causing concern that tourism could be hit. There are Environment Ministry boats patrolling along the Mediterranean coastline on the lookout for swarms of the jellyfish.
Each year tens of thousands of holidaymakers require treatment for stings from various different types of jelly fish, including Box jellyfish, which marine experts have found to have increased in number this year along the Costa Brava. It’s thought that the numbers of Mauve Stinger jellyfish have increased over the last few years, due to the effects of global warming and overfishing of their natural predators.
On top of increase sightings of the Box jellyfish, the potentially deadly Portuguese Man o’War jellyfish was spotted off the coast of Asturias causing nine beaches along Spain’s northern Atlantic coast to be closed.
Professor Just Bayle who is head of marine sciences at the University of Alicante said: “’We are surprised by the sudden explosive growth in numbers of this species. They are concentrated in areas of lower salinity, such as is found off Denia, where freshwater flows into the sea.”
Man o'War jellyfish
Picture courtesy of scazon
Posted in Travel News