According to Dr. Dror Angel, an expert in the ecology of marine invertebrates from the Department of Marine Civilizations at the University of Haifa, it is rare that this jellyfish reaches the shores of Israel. One of the concerns: this summer we will suffer from both the wandering threadworm and the pink jellyfish*
Rare, surprising and beautiful guests have been spotted on Israel's beaches, especially this winter: the pink jellyfish - Pelagia noctiluca and in recent weeks many surfers, windsurfers and divers have already felt its sting. One of the researchers' concerns is that the jellyfish will "fall in love" with the country's beaches and arrive in the summer as well. "Jellyfish regularly arrive in the winter as well, but the appearance of the pink jellyfish is rare in the eastern Mediterranean and this is the first time in recent years that we have seen it in significant numbers in our region," said Dr. Dror Angel, an expert in marine ecology from the Department of Marine Civilizations at the University of Haifa.
In recent weeks, more and more reports began to arrive about jellyfish seen on the beaches, including reports of surfers being burned. According to Angel, who follows the jellyfish arriving in Israel on the "Meduzot" website, their arrival has been reported along all the coasts of Israel - from the north and the south. As mentioned, jellyfish of a migratory filamentous species regularly arrive on the shores of Israel during the winter period, but this year their number is particularly large, as well as the rare visit of the pink jellyfish - whose sting, for those interested, is as painful as the sting of its familiar cousin in the summer, the filamentous jellyfish. According to Dr. Angel, the pink jellyfish is widespread mainly in the western Mediterranean, on the coasts of Italy, France, Tunisia and Spain, and it is a serious problem for swimmers and surfers there.
"We are troubled by the problem that, as of now, there is no clear explanation as to why we received the pink and rare visit and more at this time of the year," said Dr. Angel, who also denied claims that have already been heard related to the weather - and to the fact that the warm winter "confuses" the jellyfish. "We found no evidence that this jellyfish arrived here in warm winters and not in cold winters. The truth is that right now we are mainly collecting data and trying to put things in order," he said.
The pink jellyfish is much smaller than the wandering threadworm, and according to Dr. Angel, its expected damages to fishermen or to the facilities of the electric company are very small. However, one of the concerns is that they will "fall in love" with our beaches and decide to stay here. In such a situation, this summer the family of jellyfish that haunts Israel's shores will "expand" when both the migrating cordfish and the pelagic will come to visit.
