Man o'war returns
Sea creature spotted at beaches on the north and south Costa Blanca
The venomous Portuguese man o’ war is back on the shores of Alicante province and several beaches have been closed as a precaution.
THE VENOMOUS Portuguese man o’ war is back on the shores of Alicante province.
After westerly winds drove the formidable sea creature away from the Costa Blanca at the beginning of May, predominately-easterly winds have returned to sweep the man o’ war back to the beaches.
The Proyecto Mastral weather project published photographs of man o’ war on the sands at Playa de Los Náufragos in Torrevieja on Tuesday.
And on Wednesday regional Spanish newspaper Diario Informacíon reported that El Campello town hall had raised the red flag, banning swimming at local beaches after a number of the sea creatures had been spotted.
Despite its appearance, the Portuguese man o’ war is not a true jellyfish but a siphonophore which is a colonial organism made up of specialized individual creatures of the same species.
However, like jellyfish they have no means of propulsion and move according to the winds, currents and tides.
The man o’ war were pushed through the Gibraltar Strait into the Mediterranean Sea by successive Atlantic sea storms during the first quarter of the year.
The sea creature’s long tentacles deliver a painful sting that on extremely rare occasions has proved to be fatal to humans.
Scientists noted that they live in cold ocean waters and are rarely seen in the Mediterranean Sea. The man o’ war is a carnivore that feeds on small marine organisms.
It uses its tentacles to trap and paralyze its prey while reeling it inwards to the digestive polyps.
State weather agency AEMET is forecasting strong easterly winds today (Friday) and tomorrow, which are also likely to push the sea creature towards the shore.