Fewer jellyfish in the Balearics this year

Jellyfish prefer to live in open ocean, but can come closer to the shore in late summer. This is because there is less fresh water run-off from the land (less rainfall in summer), which in turn, makes the coastal waters more salty. Overfishing also impacts on the numbers of jellyfish. Fewer fish in the sea means less feeding competition for jellyfish, whose numbers then expand.

Jellyfish are likely to be around Catalonia and the Balearics but it’s hard to pinpoint when and for how long - it all depends on the wind and currents in the ocean. Waters off Alicante and Murcia will be seeing jellyfish but not until September this year. Either way there will be less this year, according to Ignacio Franco, marine investigator at the Institute.

In order to understand and track jellyfish numbers in detail, they need to be tracked over a long period of time. The Spanish Oceanographic Institute have only monitored the situation for three years, thus making it difficult to predict numbers. The Adriatic has tracked jellyfish for 30 – 40 years. Their observers have said jellyfish are often widespread for a 10 year period but then the numbers drop away for a period of 4 – 5 years.

Lifeguards around Mallorca beaches have brochures on the different types of jellyfish in the Balearic waters and what to do in the event of being stung. These can be found posted on beach notice boards in four languages - Spanish, Catalan, English and German. Lifeguards will also raise a purple flag to warn when jellyfish are around.