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Too much flesh exposed on Phuket: a jellyfish tanning at Patong today

Patong Jellyfish: Other Beaches Plagued, Too

Monday, January 12, 2009
Patong Jellyfish Photo Album

HELLO to all our Finnish fans and their friends, coming in by the hundreds to read about jellyfish! The water is still warm and the Andaman coast is a great destination, even if you have to share the sea now . . . still plenty of fun in the sun here.

JELLYFISH plagued Patong beach for a second day today as other reports came of more unseasonal invaders on the sand at Nai Harn, Kata Noi, Karon and Surin.

Veterans of Phuket's beaches say they have never seen anything like it before - and in the middle of tourism's high season.

Dr Somchai Bussarawit, the chief of the museum and aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, is attempting to chart the scale of the infestations and determine why it is happening.

The plague at Nai Harn appears to have come before the Patong infestation began yesterday.

A Phuketwan reader wrote today: ''Hundreds of them have washed up on shore in the past week. Normally this species is pinkish in color (at least the ones I have seen offshore when snorkeling).

''These have a blackish tinge which leads me to believe they are dying though for what reason I have no idea. There doesn't appear to be a stinging problem but most bathers are staying out of the water.

''I have lived here 10 years and never experienced this phenomenon before.

''Water pollution is certainly a prime culprit. Only time will tell whether or not this is cyclical or destined to be an ongoing problem with Phuket's beaches.''

Descriptions of the jellyfish at Nai Harn seem at odds with the Patong infestation.

Patong authorities have told Dr Somchai they would clear the jellyfish from the beach.

Dr Somchai said the type found at Patong was not dangerous. He was seeking samples from Nai Harn.

Jellyfish have also been reported at Kata Noi.

Song Saeingtong, who has worked on the beach at Nai Harn for 18 years, said the jellyfish there were also not dangerous.

''I have never seen jellyfish as thick as this,'' he told Phuiketwan. ''I have no idea why they are here. It is strange to see them in the middle of high season.''

The worldwide increase in jellyfish is blamed on decreased numbers of their natural predators, fish and turtles.

Dr Somchai, who collected specimens at Patong yesterday, said the Patong jellyfish was of the following kind:

Class Scyphozoa
Order Scyphomedusae
Suborder Rhizostomae
Family Cepheidae
Specific name: Cephea cephea (Forskal)

Width about 20 cm. Pink to liliac above, brown below, with a central dome covered in 10-30 large, irregular protuberences and circled by a shallow " moat". Mouth-arms recurved, with many filaments, just exceeding disc width.

Habitat: oceanic, occasionally drifting inshore.
Distribution: Tropical Indo-Pacific, N-Australia, some records W Africa.
N.B. sting harmless

Have you seen jellyfish at a beach near you? If so, please tell us in the Comment box below


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Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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there are hundreds of these jellyfish on kamala beach today uurrgh

Posted by podge on January 13, 2009 13:11

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There were many jellyfish on the beach in Kamala on Saturday, January 10

Posted by Anonymous on January 13, 2009 20:27

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Nai Harn water is making skin itchy. No idea what is making that but heard same from many another people. . .

And same effect is not coming from another beaches.
Quite same feeling as on rai lay at krabi. (there i was told that it's because of tiny jellyfishes, already many years ago)

Seen two quite big jellyfish in nai harn (at same day )about 20cm diameter, but after cube body is going very deep.. Color was brown..

Posted by Anonymous on April 5, 2009 03:30

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On December 26, 2009, we saw hundreds of beached jellyfish on the Oregon Coast just north of Florence at Carl Washburn State Park beach. They ranged in size from 4" to 8" in diameter and were a rusty bronze color...very pretty actually. They covered a mile or more of beach at least. Avoided touching them, but dogs may have...fortunately,they didn't seem interested in them.

Posted by Anonymous on December 29, 2009 06:19

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Yip , we got lots of jelly fish at Amora Beach and Layan beach on Sunday, 27th Dec. My friend and I got stung on the legs, not too sore, but enough to be annoying.
I definitely think it is the lack of their natural predators, that is the cause of the jelly fish population explosion world wide.
The damage to the sea is done, now we can monitor the effects of this wanton destruction of marine habitats.
Lets hope the fish and turtle populations also experience a massive birth-squirt to increase their numbers too?

Posted by Graham on December 29, 2009 08:57

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I live in Ore. and the last two days we have seen clear cellophane like jelly fishes. some small and one about 15 inches in circle. Lots of tourists here on weekends. Are they harmless?

Posted by linda W. on July 22, 2010 12:53

Editor Comment:

Your description doesn't offer enough detail to identify the particular jellyfish. There are hundreds and hundreds of different species of jellyfish worldwide. I suggest you check this website http://www.stingeradvisor.com/ and see if anything resembles your discovery. If so, they could be dangerous. Otherwise you could photograph the animals and show them to the local aquarium or marine science institute for identification. If unsure, avoid contact! If many tourists are around, it would be prudent to have a quantity of vinegar available, just in case

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Form around August to October I was stung hundreds of times by jellyfish at Pattaya and Jomtien beaches. Some days everybody was being stung, hundreds of people.

Some little girls showed me stings from 5 centimeters to 20 centimeters long, and they were in pain. Some days I sat in the water for 6 hours and was stung the whole time.

The last 2 weeks I have come home with Sea Lice breakouts all over my body.

Posted by Don on November 22, 2010 21:04


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