Tourists are urged to be careful when visiting this popular holiday destination as a seriously rare sea creature similar to a jellyfish has been spotted on a busy beach – and it’s stings can be harmful
One of the most dangerous sea creatures has been spotted at a popular holiday destination as beachgoers are urged to be careful. The Portuguese man-of-war was found on Cala en Porter beach, Menorca, neighbour to the popular holiday destination Mallorca.
The species looks very similar to a jellyfish, but is actually a species of siphonophore, a group of animals that are closely related to jellyfish, and can pack quite a vicious sting.
The sea creature was found by a visitor to the sunny beach, and they had initially buried it in the sand, but lifeguards later dug it back up and cordoned off a large area and waited for local police to take care of it due to the severity of the sting it can cause.
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The man-of-war creature are only ever found in the open Atlantic so it was a rare sight to see one washed up on shore. Touching them can cause permanent scars and, in extreme cases, even lead to death in people with allergies. The tentacles are treacherous and can sometimes injure you even when you are not looking at the creature. However, it has an intense poisonous colour in purple, blue and pink.
Stings usually cause severe pain to humans, lasting one to three hours. Red, whip-like welts appear on the skin that last two or three days after the sting. In some cases, the venom may travel to the lymph nodes and may cause symptoms that mimic an allergic reaction, including swelling of the larynx, airway blockage, cardiac distress and shortness of breath.
Other symptoms may include fever, circulatory shock and in extreme cases, even death, although this is extremely rare.
They are carnivores and usually feed on small fish, molluscs, shrimp, crustaceans and zooplankton. Each of the four specialised parts of a man o’ war is responsible for a specific task, such as floating, capturing prey, feeding, and reproduction. Found mostly in tropical and subtropical seas, men o’ war are propelled by winds and ocean currents alone, and sometimes float in legions of 1,000 or more.
They are easily spotted and recognised thanks to their apperance. They feature a large translucent purple float, the crest tipped with pink, and long blueish-violet tentacles.
The float is seen bobbing on the surface of the sea, sometimes caught in mats of seaweed. They lose their colour quickly after stranding and can appear translucent with just a tinge of purple after a while ashore.
They have a number of predators including the loggerhead sea turtle. Their skin on their tongue and throat are too thick for the stings to penetrate. The blue sea slug (aka blue dragon) also specialises in feeding on the Portuguese man o’ war, as well as the violet sea snail.
Hundreds of sail jellyfish, scientifically known as Velella velella, blanketed the beaches of the baleriacs and other rocky areas of the bay after strong gusts of wind to the regions.
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