Jellyfish season
Photo: Drori Boaz
Vacationers beware: Armies of jellyfish on way to northern shores
Hundreds of jellyfish sighted Sunday floating near Acco and Nahariyeh shores. Suggestion for the stung: Rub with sand and rinse in seawater
Going to the beach? Be advised that hundreds of jellyfish have been sighted in recent days floating near the Acco and Nahariyeh shores. And not just any jellyfish, Mediterranean jellyfish (rhophilema nomadica) - the ones with the sharpest sting.
Professor Ehud Spanier, head of the Haifa University's Department of Maritime Civilizations and Leon Recanati Institute of Maritime Studies, toured the length of the coast in the western Galilee region of Israel. According to him, western winds and currents headed towards the beach may cause the jellyfish to drift ashore, to areas rife with bathers.
Jellyfish generally appear in June and disappear in August. Another wave appears in January or February and disappears in April. According to Snapier, jellyfish may get sucked into ships that take in seawater to balance the ship's weight on the water; when the ships dock, the jellyfish are released near the shore.
The lifespan of a jellyfish is approximately three months. They begin their lives as a polyp a few millimeters in size and develop into adult jellyfish with a radius of around 70 centimeters.
Dr. Uri Sendovski, head of the emergency room in HaSharon Hospital in Petah Tikva, explains that jellyfish stings can cause severe, even second-degree, burns resulting in pain, peeling skin and possible infection.
Most importantly, what should you do if stung? Scrub the area with sand, rinse it with seawater and, afterwards, rinse it with vinegar. You should not rinse the area with freshwater because this may exacerbate the burn. It is recommended to see a doctor to determine whether or not antibiotics are needed.
Lior El-Hai and Rebecca Preilich contributed to the report.
