Stricken bathers from Cannes to Antibes, incuding Villeneuve-Loubet and Cagnes-sur-mer, have been treated for painful burns caused by their stingers. Monaco and Nice have so far been spared, although experts say much of the coast could be hit this year given the size of shoals observed. In one case a rescue operation had to be mounted to save a group of youths whose raft was surrounded by the poisonous jellyfish.
Biologists say the onslaught of Pelagia noctiluca – commonly known as the mauve stinger - is in part down to climate change and rising water temperatures, but also a decline in its only real predators – turtles and tuna. “Personally, I’m quite pessimistic,” said Gabriel Gorsky, the marine biology research director of the oceanographic laboratory at Villefranche-Sur-Mer.
The species, which glows in the dark, has also benefited from rising plankton levels and pollution-related nutrients. Its eight tentacles can reach two metres long and contact with them causes burns which can provoke asthma and allergic attacks, and in rare cases heart failure.
Cannes and Monaco have installed floating barriers to keep the pests at bay, whereas Antibes has a jellyfish-vacuum boat, which sucks up the stingers in vast quantities. About 300 types of jellyfish live in the Mediterranean, including the notorious Portuguese Man of War, or Physalia physalis, whose stings can produce painful burns and have even led to heart failure.
Most of the recent attacks have been blamed on Pelagia noctiluca - commonly known as Mauve Stingers - whose poisonous sting can trigger shock. They grow up to 4in long and have eight tentacles each up to 10ft long. Some people suffer allergic reactions which require immediate medical treatment. Those most at risk include children, the elderly, asthmatics and people with heart problems.
Experts attribute the sudden influx to a rise in water temperature because of climate change. They also blame the over-fishing of natural predators that feed on jellyfish, such as tuna, and pollution along the coasts. The recent drought has dried up many of the rivers that cool and dilute the Mediterranean coast, leaving an environment well-suited to the Stinger.
Millions of the creatures can sometimes be seen drifting out at sea in a tangled trail dozens of miles long. Increasing numbers have hit beaches from Spain’s Costa del Sol to Sicily in recent summers, but experts say France is in for a bumper year.Last year, the city of Cannes installed for the first time a floating barrier to keep them at bay. Italy is also on the lookout, and volunteers launched a boat surveillance operation dubbed “Jellywatch” this week along the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coasts. It plans to survey swarms by satellite. Biologists say the jellyfish population explosion is in part due to climate change with rising water temperatures and also a decline in its only real predators — turtles and tuna.
After drifting to Europe from Africa, the jellyfish have been spotted further north in recent years, where the water is also getting warmer. Last November, the only salmon farm in Northern Ireland lost its entire population of more than 100,000 fish to a spectacular mauve stinger attack.
Report written by Henry Samuel and originally published in The Telegraph.co.uk
Photo credit: AMB Cote d'Azur
