Invertebrates with sometimes deadly stings make unusual incursion into waters normally considered too warm for them

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Visitors to the Mediterranean could find themselves in for a painful surprise this year after Portuguese man-of-war invertebrates, with their sometimes lethal stings, made an unusual incursion into waters normally considered too warm for them.

The jellyfish have been seen close to the beaches of the Costa del Sol, in southern Spain, and off the coast of Murcia, in the south-east.

The Portuguese man-of-war, a jelly-like creature, gives a burning sting that is far more painful than that of a jellyfish.

In extreme cases, the sting can cause heart attacks in victims who are allergic to it.

Westerly winds have blown the Portuguese men-of-war into the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar and along the length of Spain's southern coast, scientists said.

"They go wherever they are driven by the wind," Xavier Pastor, of the Oceana NGO organisation, explained.

"They have little sails and that means that, if the wind is blowing in towards the coast, they end up on the coast."

Pastor said groups of the creatures had been seen off Malaga and the Costa del Sol a few weeks ago.

The latest sightings, around Murcia, were made by Spain's state-run Oceanography Centre of Murcia.

The tentacles of a man-of-war can be 30 metres long and are strung with tiny stinging capsules that survive even when it has been washed up onto shore or if the tentacles have broken off.

The capsules have small triggers that release the stings when they are touched and hang below a pink-tinged blue bubble that acts as the sail.

Pastor said there did not appear to be enough of the creatures to form a permanent colony in the Mediterranean but warned of dramatic consequences if they did.

"It would be a big problem for the tourist industry and for swimmers," he said. "This is far worse than having jellyfish."