Environment

The Mediterranean Sea is home to numerous marine animals. Swimming there is sometimes risky. We therefore advise you to take a quick look down at your feet before you decide to take a dip in its waters.

In Portugal and the north-east of Spain, in Catalonia, a creature that looks exactly like a jellyfish and known as physalia has been spotted. Nicknamed the 'sea bladder' or the 'Portuguese galley', physalia is a marine species which mainly lives in tropical waters, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. In France, the species is found in Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Barthélémy, reports Demotivateur. You're probably wondering how its 20 meter long tentacles and deadly venom (for fish) landed on our shores? As is often the case, because of global warming.

For humans, it's dangerous because of its stinging tentacles. Even when the physalia dies, its tentacles remain 'active'. If you find one washed up on the beach, do not go near it.

The Belgian poison control center also emphasizes: “contact with a physalia causes immediate intense pain, bruises on the skin and itching. Blisters can form and lesions sometimes leave pigmented scars (brown marks). After a delay of fifteen minutes to an hour, general signs of varying severity may appear: nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, pain in the chest and abdomen, breathing difficulties, muscle and joint pain, malaise, dizziness, fever …”.

At the beginning of August, the civil protection services in Catalonia had, as a security measure, closed several beaches for swimming, including those of Tamarit, Tarragona and Altafulla. Today, beached could have reopened.

(AsD - Source: Demotivateur - Illustration: Unsplash)