MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A few months ago there were many jellyfish in the Poort, a natural tidal pool and popular swimming spot, at the Point in Mossel Bay.
The jellyfish have a potent sting, far worse than blue bottles.
Now, today, Monday, 2 March, swimmers are warned again that there are a multitude of jellyfish in the sea.
It is often strong winds that bring the jellyfish to the shores in their numbers.
It was local marine enthusiast and photographer Johan Swanepoel who told the Mossel Bay Advertiser on Monday morning at 09:00 that there were huge schools of jellyfish in the bay.
He said there was a group of school children at Santos Beach on an outing and he went to warn them not to swim.
A photograph he showed the Advertiser showed a dense school of the jellies.
This species are night-light jellyfish, also known as mauve stingers, because of their characteristic purple colour. Their scientific name is Pelagia noctiluca.
Krish Lewis, an aquarist specialising in jellyfish and coral husbandry at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "They can reproduce really fast.
"The reason for this is that night-light jellies produce larvae that change directly into baby jellyfish over about a five-day period.
"Other jellyfish have a tiny anemone, called a polyp, that seasonally or during stressed periods, produces baby jellies, which is a much longer process.
The night-light jellyfish. Photos: Johan Swanepoel
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