A tale of 2 jellyfish and coastlines…

The Maltese Islands are currently experiencing two different jellyfish species blooms, with large numbers of blue, purple and brown jellyfish individuals being observed by numerous citizen scientists submitting reports to the Spot the Jellyfish campaign.

One of the blooming jellyfish species is the by-the-wind sailor (qlugħ in Maltese – Velella velella), a blue floating colony of polyps which is wind-propelled through an emergent chitin flap, while the other blooming jellyfish species is the mauve stinger (brama in Maltese – Pelagia noctiluca).

The timing of the blooming of the two species is anomalous this year, presumably due to the unseasonally dry and calm conditions witnessed in January and February. In fact, the by-the-wind sailor bloom is normally witnessed in early spring (April), whilst the first records of this species were submitted this year to Spot the Jellyfish at the end of January. Similarly, the annual mauve stinger bloom is normally witnessed in late spring (May

June), following the annual mass spawning event observed for this species in winter, suggesting a direct influence of climactic patterns on the life cycles of marine communities.

Intriguingly enough, the two blooms are geographically segregated, with the innocuous (nonstinging) by-the-wind sailor bloom being largely restricted to the western coast of Malta, with large blooms observed off the beaches of Ġnejna and Golden Bay, and large numbers of the stinging mauve stinger being witnessed along the eastern coast, especially at Marsascala and Balluta.

Reporting of jellyfish species within the Spot the Jellyfish campaign is done by simply matching the sighted jellyfish with a simple visual identification guide ( – just click on the jellyfish banner), giving the date and time of the sighting, and indicating the number of individuals seen. Sightings can be reported online, or by sending a text message to 79604109, or an e-mail message to or to

The campaign is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), Nature Trust (Malta), the EkoSkola network, BlueFlag, Friends of the Earth and Sharklab, with the MTA sponsoring the design and deployment of the campaign’s trademark seaside panels.