Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1016519
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 FEBRUARY 2018 In bloom Jellyfish spotters take scientific project into its ninth year YANNICK PACE IT would be very hard to imag- ine a summer in Malta without the sea. Every day thousands of tourists and locals swarm to beaches all around the island in search of some relaxation. Very few things can ruin a day at the beach quite like getting stung by a jellyfish or finding that the beach you have gone too is infested with them. The Spot the Jellyfish cam- paign, currently in its ninth year, is a citizen science ini- tiative that allows people to report jellyfish sightings. In addition to providing validated reports on these sightings, Spot the Jellyfish is also a useful tool in learning how to deal with stings. The campaign is adminis- tered by the Department of Geosciences at the University of Malta and the International Ocean Institute. Professor Alan Deidun, one of the researchers behind the ini- tiative, explained that as is the case with fish, more alien spe- cies of jellyfish are being spot- ted in Malta. In some cases, he explained, they might come from the In- dian Ocean through the Suez Canal, as is the case with the nomadic jellyfish, the upside- down jellyfish and the Austral- ian spotted jellyfish. Deidun said there had also been some sightings of the Por- tugese Man o'war, an Atlantic jellyfish. "There is a science behind how jellyfish stings should be treated," he said, explaining that there was a specific way of treating stings by different species. "As a general rule, you should not apply fresh water, but that that's about it." Deidun pointed to the cam- paign's website, app and Face- book page, as well as a number of information boards placed at beaches, as a way for the public to know what to do if they are stung. Asked whether anything could be done to prevent get- ting stung, Deidun said that what he would recommend is carrying a snorkel and having an occasional look underneath the sea. NEWS He said that predicting jelly- fish occurrences and their in- tensity was a complex matter that was dependent on several factors including sea tempera- ture, pollution, overfishing and an increase in artificial surfac- es in the sea where they could lay their eggs all contributed to an increase in jellyfish. He said that while people could do their part by report- ing any sightings, there was little one could do on a local level since the issue was one that can only be addressed on a Mediterranean level. Clockwise from top left: Forskalea, Fauna Cnidaria Hydrozoa, Oceania Armata, Apolemia Uvaria, the fried egg jellyfish, a common site in late summer, Fauna Cnidaria Hydrozoa Velella Velella, and a swarm of jellyfish brought in by the sea ebb earlier in 2018. PHOTOS Spot The Jellyfish campaign / ALAN DEIDUN