Summer arrives, the heat arrives, and with them the wave of tourists and residents that fill the beaches of Ibiza for a refreshing swim. But at this time of the year in the sea we can also meet other uncomfortable ‘visitors’: jellyfish.
The rise of water temperatures, especially in the Mediterranean, and the absence of the jellyfish’s natural predatorsyear after year, these annoying gelatinous beings reach our coasts.
There are several species of jellyfish in the Mediterranean. Some of them have a stinging sting but others do not. We can encounter the aguamalas jellyfish, the Portuguese caravels, the fried egg jellyfish, the luminescent (these are very present in Ibiza and have a painful sting), moon jellyfish…
What to do if you get stung by a jellyfish
Among the symptoms of its bite include mild rash, muscle cramps and shortness of breath, changes in pulse, fainting, chest pain, abdominal pain, headache, muscle aches and spasms, numbness and weakness, pain in arms and legs, red and raised spot where the bite occurred, runny and watery eyes, difficulty swallowing and sweating.
After a sting, it is recommended rinse the area with sea water to minimize the reaction on our skin or on the skin of the person who has been stung. Use tweezers or any object you have at hand to remove jellyfish remains.
Apply cold for about 15 minutes, but not directly, with a towel or plastic wrap. Finally, as for symptom relief, you can resort to analgesics and antihistamines.
The beaches of Ibiza where these days there are more jellyfishes
Now, it is possible to see if there are jellyfish on the beach ahead of time, and that’s thanks to MedusApp, a jellyfish spotting application developed to ensure people’s safety and gather scientific information.
It is a social network for sharing information about beaches that was developed in 2018 by the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Alicante.
The app has recently been updated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to allow it to automatically perform the identification of jellyfish.
According to this app, where more jellyfish are currently being recorded in Ibiza is on the following beaches, mostly in the west of the island:
In Port d’es Torrent luminescent jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca) have been sighted, as well as in Cala Codolar or Cala Molí.
In the area of Santa Eulària, at the moment the presence of jellyfish has been registered in Cala Nova and Sol d’en Serra.