Hundreds of thousands of purple jellyfish have flooded since last year Aegeanthe Cretan and this year and Ionian open sea.
THE Pelagia noctilucaas its scientific name is, is a jellyfish that lives and multiplies in the open as explained to SKAI by Epamineondas Christou, research director of ELKETHE, biologist – oceanologist. The populations of this jellyfish, travel with the wind currents on various beaches that communicate with the Aegean or are located in the Aegean.
The purple “invader” works insidiously, as it is rarely distinct from the sea surface. She moves to the bottom and when she finds her victim, bites causing irritation and stinging.
“In case we have the misfortune to be bitten, in the average person it creates nothing more than a skin irritation which is painful. The sting hurts and can leave a mark. The ideal we can do is to pour seawater, wipe with a plastic card to remove debris, then put an ice pack, ice or something frozen on the wound for two or three minutes, and then the ideal would be to have baking soda in a ratio of sea water one by one, because for 2-3 minutes on the wound it prevents the release of toxin “, explains Mr. Christou.
The purple jellyfish makes its appearance every decade and mstays in the seas for three years. Bathers should avoid touching them.
THE Professor of Oceanography at the University of the Aegean Drossos Kousoubasexplains to SKAI that even in Greek waters and in the Mediterranean, there are no species of sea jellyfish that can cause deadly stings.
“They cause acute pain. This swelling, which is caused because the antennae are also their urticaria cells, releases this urticarial fluid that they normally have to kill their prey. “But if we unfortunately get in touch, it causes this pain.” emphasizes the professor.
Those who are allergic should be especially carefulas a sting of the purple jellyfish can cause them a big problem.
“The first and basic advice is if we see a lot of warblers not to enter the sea, that is, to go to another area, we do not come in contact. Of course, if someone shows some kind of allergy directly to a health center, a pharmacy to have a solution “, stressed the professor.
Climate change and overfishing have accelerated the appearance of swarms of purple jellyfish and according to scientists their presence means that we have a degraded ecosystem.
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