'Don't panic' advice after jellyfish seen off Weymouth

9:20am Saturday 15th August 2009

By Miriam Phillips »

SWIMMERS were today warned not to panic after two sightings of poisonous jellyfish off the coast near Weymouth.

The Portuguese Man o’ War were spotted off the coast in Weymouth and Worbarrow Bay, near Lulworth.

The creatures were sighted after more than 100 were washed up last month earlier this month at West Bay, causing the main beach to close.

Charter boat skipper Josh Simmonds, of the boat Revolution, spotted one of the jellyfish three miles out at sea near the eastern end of the Portland breakwater.

He said that the tentacles were about six feet long.

He said: “I haven’t seen a Portuguese Man o’ War this big for years but at the moment it’s really clear and there also seems to be lots of compass jellyfish around.

“The weather has been calm this year and we haven’t had much wind.

“We were fishing for mackerel and I was really surprised to see this and so were the customers from Poole on a day trip.

“They thought it was great.

“I just worry that this might end up washed up on the beach and stink some poor kid.”

The Portuguese Man o' War is one of the world’s deadliest jellyfish and carries a poisonous sting in its tentacles although it is rarely lethal. It can be fatal if it causes an allergic reaction in its victim.

Another sighting of a 4ft Portuguese Man o’ War jellyfish was reported to the Dorset Wildlife Trust on Wednesday of last week after a sighting in Worbarrow Bay.

Weymouth RNLI Lifeguard supervisor Ed Stephens said there have been no sightings in the Weymouth or Portland reported to them this summer and that Weymouth beach goers and swimmers should not worry.

“It’s nothing to worry about.

“Weymouth beach is so sheltered that the likelihood of one washing up is highly remote,” he said.

“The reason they washed up in West Bay is that the southerly winds brought them up from the Bay of Biscay.

“There have been no jellyfish stings from Man O’ War in Weymouth and the one child that was stung in West Bay was fine afterwards.”

Dorset Wildlife Trust’s reserve manager Julie Hatcher said: “Normally it’s rare to get these kind of jellyfish here but this is now the second year that there have been sightings on the Dorset coast.

“As far as I know they are not coming in huge numbers and in Dorset they seem to be few and far between.

“They are something to look out for because they can give a nasty sting but nothing to panic about.”

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/4547668._Don_t_panic__advice_after_jellyfish_seen_off_Weymouth/