Jellyfish invasion

We witnessed an enormous amount of jellyfish last Wednesday when hundreds invaded St George's as well as St Julian's Bay with their long and dangerous tentacles. It was a very unpleasant sight.

Since there was absolutely no chance of swimming unhurt, we took the opportunity and caught as many of these unwanted slimy fellows as we could. Within a short period of time more than 80 of them found themselves in a plastic bag.

Pity though, that we are not in Japan, where jellyfish are, perhaps not exactly a delicacy, but used for salads.

It seems that everywhere large amounts of different kinds of jellyfish have been spotted. Why is the Mediterranean full of jellyfish? I was looking for a clear explanation on the internet and I would like to share some information with readers.

Various marine biologists commented that the invasion of jellyfish has two main reasons:

1) The Mediterranean is a few degrees warmer and therefore attracts the jellies.

2) Due to over-fishing, jellyfish no longer have natural predators and therefore cannot be kept at bay.

What can we do in order to solve the problem? Unfortunately the answer is: almost nothing.

The Spanish tried to control the amount of jellyfish by fishing them out of the sea. However, it seems that the toxins are so powerful that they can ruin the nets.

It seems the only solution to the problem is to throw dynamite into the sea and hope for the best. Of course, that would have an effect on all sea creatures. However, with today's advanced technology, I am sure that in a couple of years' time we will have the pleasure of eating genetically manipulated fish - fresh from the test tube.

Talking about technology in combination with jellyfish - the Israelis have isolated the immune protein that clown fish have towards anemones and manufactured this protein. They created a product which is both a suntan product with factor 30+ and a jellyfish repellant. It has been tested at various labs and was classified as very promising.

However, I came across the warning not to use the product in connection with a wet suit, since the ingredients of the sunscreen can actually damage the wet suit. And what kind of a long-term effect/damage is it going to have on my skin?

I came across an American scuba website where another marine biologist stated the following: Jellies can be more toxic from year to year and affect different people differently. Repeated stings can create allergic reactions, just like any other animal toxin (bee, fire ant stings etc.) that contains histamine.

Also interesting were the comments about what to do when one actually got stung by a jellyfish:

1) Do not wash out the wound with tap water, but use sea water and rinse area continuously.

2) Vinegar does help, since it neutralises the poison.

A Hawaiian doctor recommended on his website that in case vinegar is not available, urine would do the same job, whereby one should for reasons of sterility prefer the urine of a male - and he was certainly not joking.

Afterwards one should put baking powder on the affected area and carefully scrape off the powder and the rest of the sticky poison with the flat blade of a butter knife. If baking powder and butter knife are of no avail, use shaving foam and a shaving blade to do the same.

3) The use of sprays containing a local anesthetic, which are available from any pharmacy, ease the pain of the sting.

And finally, one reader of an American scuba internet forum suggested the following:

"If nothing works: Windex still works! If ya don't believe me, go and see My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Regarding prevention of jellyfish stings, we could opt for the protective Lycra suit. Furthermore, 75 per cent of stings could be prevented entirely by the use of a "stinger suit" - I didn't even know that something like this existed...

Or, those of us who don't feel like wearing a "full body condom" can opt to build a pool in the garden, put a plastic plunge pool on the roof or get a membership at the national pool.

Happy summer holidays to all of you!