Dubai: Beach-goers over the weekend spotted hundreds of jellyfish in Dubai that were last seen in huge numbers in UAE waters in 2008.
Residents and tourists took photographs of hundreds of dead moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) washed ashore in Dubai at the weekend. Moon jellyfish have transparent bell-shaped bodies with four violet circular gonads or sexual organs visible in the centre.
“There were small white creatures on the beach. At first I didn’t know what they were so I touched one of them, and then it suddenly moved. My friend then told me it was a jellyfish,” Rainier Basa, 32, a geotechnical engineer who visited Jumeirah Open Beach at the weekend, told Gulf News on Saturday.
Basa’s friend, Robert Maquiling, said the jellyfish they spotted were saucer-like creatures with barely visible tentacles.
“They came in different sizes; some were just a bit bigger than an average saucer, while there were small ones, too. I just covered them with sand so that children walking on the beach wouldn’t step on them,” Maquiling said.
Three types of jellyfish are commonly found in Dubai waters — the blue blubber jellyfish between April and May, upside-down jellyfish, and nettle jellyfish between September and October. But the moon jellyfish sighting has been a rare occurrence here at least for the last six years, said Keith Wilson, marine programme director of Emirates Marine Environmental Group.
“We have a seasonal influx of jellyfish in UAE waters, they can be blue blubber or nettle. The ones we’re seeing now are moon jellyfish or Aurelia is the Latin name but the last time they were spotted in UAE waters in huge numbers was in 2008,” Wilson told Gulf News.
“I saw thousands and thousands of them at Dubai Marina last week. But they are not dangerous to people. Their venom is so mild you aren’t likely to feel it,” he added.
Moon jellyfish are species from the northern hemisphere that thrive in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Wilson said it is difficult to say why they have come to UAE shores again, but the most probable reason could be climatic changes.
Wilson said the sea creatures spotted on shore had already reached the end of their growth phase, which means they are likely to disappear in the next three to four weeks.
In case of jellyfish stings, squirting vinegar on the affected area and patting it dry is the most effective first-aid remedy.
