Holidaymakers urged to report jellyfish encounters

British seaside visitors are being urged to report their jellyfish encounters on the UK coast, as part of the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS) national Jellyfish Survey.

The Jellyfish Survey is now in full swing, with early holidaymakers already reporting mass jellyfish strandings on beaches and huge numbers at sea around the UK coast.

MCS launched the survey last summer and is expecting reports from around Great Britain’s coast as the school holidays kick off this month. MCS has already received over 300 reports of jellyfish from the UK, Eire and the Channel Islands, since the project caught the public’s imagination in 2003, when MCS responded to hundreds of requests for their free Jellyfish ID Guide.

“Our jellyfish survey is revealing fascinating insights into the lives of these beautiful and enigmatic animals”, said Peter Richardson, MCS Species Policy Officer.

“But we rely heavily on the efforts of British holiday makers, who, by sending in reports of their encounters with jellyfish, are making a real contribution to the knowledge and understanding of our mysterious and sometimes dangerous medusae”.

The survey aims to understand the little-known habits of British jellyfish as part of wider research to understand the ecology of critically endangered leatherback turtles when they visit UK seas to feed on their favourite jellyfish prey.

Of particular concern are the swarms of the giant Lion’s Mane jellyfish now appearing in the seas off the north west coast of England and Scotland. The Lion’s Mane, Britain’s largest jellyfish species, can reach up to two metres in diameter, and it hit the headlines last year when several unsuspecting bathers suffered severe and painful stings while swimming amongst dense swarms of the jellyfish in the Mersey estuary. MCS also received reports of swimmers being stung off Anglesey and the west coast of Scotland.

“Jellyfish will not purposely attack people, instead they catch fish and other marine creatures, by spreading their tentacles like fishing lines. The tentacles of some species can inflict very painful stings to exposed skin, especially those of the Lion’s Mane jellyfish, which can be a dangerous surprise to unsuspecting bathers” said Peter Richardson.

“The other species most commonly found in UK waters are either harmless or inflict mild stings, but you never know how an individual will react to the venom. So we always urge caution and suggest that people use the MCS ID Guide and never touch or knowingly swim with jellyfish.”

The potentially lethal Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalia) also occasionally occurs in UK waters, but the 2003 survey revealed only one dead specimen stranded in a remote bay on the Isle of Mull.

(gmcg)