Jellyfish survey - Marine Conservation Society needs your help
JELLYFISH have something of the Dementor about them.
Just like the fictional floating baddies from Harry Potter they have no heart yet boast a sting in their tails.
But ocean experts want your help to find out when and where these weird looking animals glide into our shorelines.
The Marine Conservation Society is carrying out a jellyfish survey and is asking people to report sightings of these fascinating creatures.
The study is part of a wider programme to discover more about leatherback turtles which migrate thousands of miles to UK waters and munch their way through millions of jellyfish each summer.
By mapping where and when the jellyfish are seen, the conservation group hopes to understand more about leatherback turtles while they visit UK seas.
Large gatherings, or blooms, of jellyfish have already been reported in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
And as the UK's seas warm up during the summer more alien-like invaders are expected.
The group's biodiversity programme manager Peter Richardson said: "Lion's mane jellyfish and other species can give a painful sting, so as ever, we are encouraging holidaymakers to take part in the MCS jellyfish survey and report their jellyfish encounters, but the key message is look, don't touch!
"The jellyfish survey is an excellent way for people to get involved in finding out more about our threatened seas.
"In some parts of the world jellyfish numbers appear to be increasing, and scientists have linked these increases to factors such as pollution, over-fishing and possibly climate change.
"We should consider jellyfish populations as important indicators of the state of our seas, and the MCS jellyfish survey helps provides some of the information we need to understand them more."
The survey data is being analysed with the University of Exeter and early results show interesting differences in the distribution of the larger jellyfish species around Britain.
Likely visitors to the South Coast are blue and compass jellyfish, both of which have a mild sting.
The moon jellyfish is the most frequently seen jellyfish in UK waters and has a very mild sting.
In the last three years the survey has also detected an increasing presence in UK waters of hazardous jellyfish.
In 2007, 2008 and 2009 Portuguese Man of War were reported in large numbers in late summer strandings on beaches in the South West, and over the same period the Mauve Stinger bloomed in huge numbers off Ireland, Northern Ireland and the west coast of Scotland.
It remains to be seen if these reports represent the start of a trend of these species occurring more regularly in UK waters.
The full-colour MCS jellyfish photo-ID guide and recording forms can be downloaded from www.mcsuk.org , where jellyfish encounters can also be reported in detail online.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Lewes
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
