Jellyfish invasion shuts Mediterranean beaches
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jellyfish invasion shuts Mediterranean beaches*
By Fiona Govan in Madrid and Malcolm Moore in Rome
(Filed: 09/08/2006)
Swimming bans were imposed at beaches across the Mediterranean yesterday
because of an influx of stinging jellyfish along coastlines from Spain
to Sicily.
Holidaymakers arriving at beaches faced the sight of red flags, a
precaution normally used in storms, to warn people not to go into the sea.
The ban affects some of Spain's most popular resorts. The waters on the
Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa Brava and the Balearic Islands have
been infested by unprecedented numbers of the jellyfish, whose sting can
cause heart failure in extreme cases.
Warning flags were also flying along beaches on the Italian Riviera and
Sicily to warn of a mass invasion of the Mauve Stinger jellyfish.
Hundreds of thousands of the bright purple creatures, which emit a
yellow glow at night, have infested some of Italy's most exclusive beach
resorts.
Hundreds of them have been washed ashore everywhere between Ventimiglia,
which lies close to Monaco on the border between Italy and France, to
Tuscany and the Lazio coast.
Alessandro Lucchetti, a marine biologist in Ancona, said the water
temperature had risen by four degrees in the past year, creating an
ideal breeding ground for the stingers. The high temperature has allowed
the jellyfish to migrate north from Africa.
Marine biologists said that sharks too were moving north. Several have
been sighted along the Ligurian coast.
Four Spanish beaches near Malaga, on the Costa del Sol, were closed and
hundreds of people were stung at Torremolinos in one day.
To the east, along Granada's Costa Tropical, water-cleaning boats have
recovered about 12,000lb of jellyfish in the past three days.
The Spanish Red Cross has treated 19,000 people for stings so far this
summer on the Costa Brava, almost triple the figure for last year. Worse
is expected on the Costa Blanca, where an enormous shoal of jellyfish
was sighted on Monday heading for Benidorm. Josefa Pérez, a Benidorm
councillor, said: "Because the waters are becoming warmer, we knew that
it was only a matter of time before they came here."
Police have posted signs in three languages warning bathers of the
dangers of swimming and advising them where to seek treatment if they
are stung.
Mark Roberts, 38, a salesman from Bromley, south London, was stung at
the weekend on a beach near Mijas, on the Costa del Sol.
"It was really painful and made me think twice about going in the water
again," he said.
Several tourists have been stung in Italy, although no one has been
seriously hurt.
Tour operators on the Italian Riviera have had a bad summer. Before the
jellyfish arrived, tourists were banned from swimming last month because
of an outbreak of toxic algae.
On the Cote d'Azur, in France, a 40-year-old couple had to be taken to
hospital after swimming into the middle of a large shoal of jellyfish.
After being stung all over, they almost drowned. They were rescued by boat.