Holidaymakers have been banned from swimming on popular beaches in Spain

10:14 El NACHO 0 Comments

Holidaymakers have been banned from swimming on popular beaches in Spain after swarms of jellyfish have plagued the coastline.
Several beaches on the Costa Blanca, north of Alicante, have been shut to swimmers because of the worst invasion of Mauve Stinger jellyfish for two years.
The bright purple jellyfish deliver only mild stings, but they can cause severe allergic reactions and can even lead to heart failure in some people.
The Red Cross treated 50 people for the effects of stings in just half an hour on a beach in Denia. It fears the numbers of people requiring treatment could reach the record of 2008, when 4,000 people were needed treatment in Denia alone.
Denia is one of the most popular resorts on the Costa Blanca, a region which attracts around two million tourists ever year - 800,000 of them from Britain.
Environment Ministry boats are patrolling the Mediterranean along the coastline on the lookout for the swarms of invertebrates as they drift towards the shore.
The numbers of Mauve Stinger jellyfish have increased over the last few years, due to the effects of global warming and overfishing of their natural predators.
Every year tens of thousands of holidaymakers require treatment for stings.
Marine experts have this year also found an increase in the number of box jellyfish along the Costa Brava.
More commonly found in the tropical waters of the Caribbean, box jellyfish deliver a painful sting that can leave an itching burning welt that lasts up to three weeks.
Professor Just Bayle, head of marine sciences at the University of Alicante, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We are surprised by the sudden explosive growth in numbers of this species.
'They are concentrated in areas of lower salinity, such as is found off Denia, where freshwater flows into the sea.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1299851/Spanish-beaches-closed-swarms-Mauve-Stinger-jellyfish-invade-Costa-Brava.html#ixzz0vX3xzx9d