Portuguese Invasion in the Mediterranean Spanish Coasts

Don't let you be fooled by the title, the invasion is not coming directly from Portuguese ships or boats (why would the anyway).

However, there's another Portuguese wrongly related being that is pose to create a bit of a problem for swimmers and snorkelers this summer.

No Bob, it's not a jellyfish. It's a colony of organisms called polyps!

You might have heard of it he's name is "Portuguese Man o' War" although its scientific name is Physalia physalis and even though it is wrongly compared with jellyfish in reality it is not. Instead this particularly animal is a colony of individual organisms called polyps. However, polyps are normally static and the best example of this animal is an anemone.

Here's an anemone protecting some clownfish

Look at those colours

So far there has not been any sighting around Costa Brava, so our snorkelling trips should go out as normal, but it is good to be aware of any potential encounter with them. Spanish news has spotted a few in the coasts of Alicante.

This year seems to be the jellyfish year so far because our jelly friends have made it to the front page of many news site. In April a large amount of non-poisonous jellyfish invaded many beaches from Barcelona all the way up north till the French border in Cap de Creus Natural Park and while they didn't pose any threat to swimmers the scientific community in Catalonia has warned everyone that unless we do something, this sighting will be more common in the years to come due to global warming.

Reasons why they are so close to the shore?

Portuguese man o' war are normally found in the open ocean far from the coasts, however here are some of the possible causes:

Overfishing: this was reported back in 2014 that due to the over fishing in the mediterranean sea, the portuguese man o'war along with jellyfish will not have any natural predator to eat it and keep the balance in the sea.

Rise of sea temperature: an increase in the Mediterranean Sea temperature is making its organisms to move and behave differently than in the past because their food has moved elsewhere or worse case, it has disappeared altogether.

What shall you do if you get stung by one?

Remove all the tentacles with a clamp or tweezers.

Do not spray vinegar

Do not use fresh water

Only sea water can be used to rinse the affected area

If possible heat up sea water and apply as hot as tolerated and soak for 30 mins.