COSTA ON MAN O' WAR ALERT
Beaches closed as dangerous species is found from Alicante to Benissa
RED FLAGS have been hoisted and public warnings issued by councils in the northern Costa Blanca after potentially lethal Portuguese man o' war were spotted in the area.
After several sightings both at sea and along the shores of Benidorm, San Juan de Alicante, El Altet and Guardamar at the weekend, San Juan beaches were the first to be placed on red alert on Monday. The following day, Altea took the same action and banned bathing on its beaches, although no cases of stings have been reported.
The first man o' war were actually removed by Benidorm baywatch patrols on April 10 and 11, when 14 of them were collected off Levante and Mal Pas beaches. All coastline councils are now calling for bathers to be cautious or avoid the sea completely as a precaution.
PATROLS are keeping watch over the Calpe coastline for any sign of the dangerous ‘Physalia physalis’, commonly known as the Portugese man o' war.
Benissa council quickly followed suit and advised residents through different social networks that they have been detected in ‘waters near’ the Calpe and Benissa beaches.
They asked residents and users of the beaches to exercise ‘extreme caution, as their stings are quite dangerous’.
Meanwhile, Alicante city hall has announced that it will deploy a special lifeguard service over this long weekend (until May 1 bank holiday) on Postiguet and San Juan beaches to alert bathers if man o' war are sighted again.
It is not the first time, as it is a phenomenon that has occurred in previous years, usually in spring.
The species gets its name for its resemblance to a ship under sail and its trailing tentacles carry a painful sting which can provoke an allergic reaction and in rare cases can be fatal - see report on page 13.
Beaches suffer sand storm
Winter storms have washed away precious sand from Calpe's beaches, leaving the council with a recycling challenge in their wake ahead of the tourist season.
Calpe town hall is trying to recover as much as possible residues of sand left on seaweed recovered from its main beaches – but the local authority already accepts it is faced with buying fresh stocks from abroad.
Environmental concerns rule out dredging the seabed for sand, once seen as the chea- pest solution to the problem.
“The storms have washed away an awful lot of sand from our beaches,” said Councillor Carole Saunders. “And there has been a huge amount of seaweed dumped on the shore.
“We have been clearing away the seaweed and what we are trying to do is trying to recycle as much sand as possible from the collected seaweed.
“The seaweed we clean up from the main beaches is saved, it is dried out, and then workmen are shaking it to get as much sand off it as possible.”
Seaweed is allowed to remain on the shore in coves as it protects the smaller beaches and will be removed later.
Mrs Saunders admitted the town hall was faced with importing new stocks of sand. “It is an expensive process... because of trying to protect the seabed you can no longer dredge up sand offshore and put it on the beaches.