Urgent beach warning as 'beautiful but deadly' creature washes up on UK coast
An urgent warning has been issued after a 'beautiful but deadly sea creature washed up on a picturesque coastline.
People using the beach have been asked to stay well clear of the “fearsome predator”. The creature washed up on the North Wales coast was a deadly Portuguese man o’war which was discovered by dog walkers on Porth Dafarch beach, Anglesey.
NorthWalesLive reports people have been urged not to touch the sea creatures which are sometimes described as “false jellyfish”. Their stings, however, are strong enough to kill fish and in very rare cases have been known to kill humans. Sightings of them tend to become more common around Britain in September and October as sea temperatures peak.
As oceans continue to warm, experts expect increasing numbers of exotics to appear along the Welsh coast in the years to come. Already one council has sounded an alert. South Hams District Council warned about the sea creatures after the discovery of man o’wars on beaches in the West Country, England.
The local authority has warned the creatures can give a nasty sting (Chris Whittaker/Daily Post Wales)On social media, the local authority said: “These colourful and fascinating animals are closely related to jellyfish, with a translucent purple float, tipped with pink, and long blueish-violet tentacles. While they are rarely deadly, they do give a very nasty sting even long after they are dead. "This sting can cause painful swelling welts when in contact with the skin. So, how can you help? Keep children and dogs away and don’t touch.”
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It is also known as the “floating terror” and is made up of colonies of individual animals with their own separate functions. In humans, their stings usually cause severe pain and leave whip-like red welts on the skin.
The creatures are beautiful but can be deadly (Chris Whittaker/Daily Post Wales)A 58-year-old French swimmer described a recent encounter with a man o’war in northern Spain. He said it was as though he’d been “wrapped in a metal net with a continuous high-voltage current”. Several people were needed to pull him from the water as his lungs shrank and he suffered convulsions. The man was hospitalised for 10 hours. On beaches, the creatures should be left well alone. Neither should they be covered up to prevent accidental encounters.
The Mirror reported in June how Jellyfish and poisonous algae could become more dangerous to beachgoers as sea temperatures climb. Some of the most intense marine heat increases on Earth have developed in seas around the UK and Ireland, the European Space Agency (Esa) has warned, which could lead to more risks for bathers.
Temperatures of 18C recorded in the North Sea are up to 6C warmer than is usual for this time of year. The sea is particularly warm off the UK's east coast from Durham to Aberdeen, and off north-west Ireland with temperatures 3 to 4C above the average.
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