Alan Deidun from the Univerisity of Malta’s Department of Geosciences and coordinator of the Spot the Jellyfish campaign participated in the fifth edition of the International Jellyfish Bloom Symposium at the Barcelona Aquarium, Spain. He delivered presentations on a local jellyfish dispersion model and on the population dynamics and genetics of the Mediterranean box jellyfish (Carybdea marsupialis). He was also co-author of eight abstracts presented at the symposium.

Almost 200 people attended the symposium, the largest global gathering of experts on jellyfish and other gelatinous plankton. Topics discussed included factors that promote jellyfish blooms, and their mitigation and monitoring, the potential use of jellyfish biomass as a food resource or as a source of bioactive compounds, the issue of alien jellyfish species and the fine-tuning of citizen science campaigns regarding jellyfish.

For further information about the symposium and the Sport the Jellyfish campaign, visit the websites below.

www.jellyfishbloom2016.com

www.ioikids.net/jellyfish