Hundreds of dead jellyfish washed up onto city beaches

Hundreds of dead jellyfish have been washed up onto the beaches in Salthill.

But a leading expert has said they pose very little threat to the public.

Dr Tom Doyle, a marine biologist and expert in gelatinous zooplankton (jellyfish) at the Ryan Institute in NUI Galway said they are the aurelia aurita species (the ‘moon’ jellyfish or common jellyfish) offered the advice: “Ignore them, stay away and they won’t be a problem.”

The dead ‘jellies’ can still sting, but only on delicate tissue such as eyelids.

“These guys can sting more delicate tissues. Ignore them is the best advice. Stay away because they can be misidentified . . . there is a similar species that we usually get here between August and October, the pelagia (commonly known as the ‘mauve stinger’). They’re different and they give a really painful sting (even when dead),” said Dr Doyle.

For more on the jellies, see this week’s Galway City Tribune

Some of the dead jellyfish on the beach in Salthill.