An Age of Magic

And you thought it was safe to go back in the water?…

Planning to go on holiday in the sunny Mediterranean this summer? planning on enjoying lots of fun in the sea? be careful because they will be out there! Giant stinging jellyfish that it. And when these guys sting you they mean business!

A plague of stinging jellyfish is set to hit the tourist beaches of the Mediterranean this summer as millions of so-called ‘mauve stingers’ are washed ashore.  Scientists studying the phenomena at a research institute in Barcelona have discovered massive numbers of the jellyfish with a nasty sting massing in deeper waters off the Costa Brava.

Researchers have discovered huge colonies of the Pelagia noctiluca species of the animal growing over the winter months in deeper waters, waiting to be washed ashore with the summer tides.  In some cases they discovered colonies with up to ten jellyfish per cubic metre of water. But why is this?

Overfishing of the seas means that many of the natural predators of jellyfish, such as larger fish like tuna, are simply no longer around to regulate population growth while the numbers of smaller fish that compete with food with jellyfish are also dwindling.  Climate change is also being blamed for the sudden population explosion as warmer seas make ideal breeding grounds for jellyfish.

Fish obviously play a major part in the life of the seas, maybe this should serve as a warning as to overfishing our waters.

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