Irritating (and at times painful) jellyfish stings are one of the least attractive things about living on an island. And with Maltese waters experiencing a shift in temperature at this time of year, June normally sees massive blooms of jellyfish around the Mediterranean. This week was clearly no exception.

While testing their underwater drone earlier this week, Spot The Jellyfish came across one such jellyfish blooms, this time in Anchor Bay. The jellyfish in question are mauve stingers (Pelagia noctiluca), one of the most common species in the Mediterranean, and Malta.

Mauve stingers don’t usually grow to an umbrella diameter larger than 12 centimetres, but they truly are beautiful creatures… were it not for their at times highly irritating sting. Add a couple of hundreds next to each other, and the result is a sight as hypnotic and otherworldly as it is downright scary.

Mauve stinger blooms are not new to Malta, and practically happen every single year right before summer starts. This year, however, the islands seem to be going through a much more intense bloom.

“I had sort of predicted this last January when we experienced a long dry and warm spell back: that the major mauve stinger bloom this year would come early and would be of larger proportions most probably,” environmentalist and marine biologist Alan Deideun had told Lovin Malta last month when carpets of the pink jellies started washing up all over the island’s east coast.

How to treat a mauve stinger sting

1. Carefully rinse with seawater, do not rub the affected area.
2. If available, apply a mixture of seawater and baking soda (1:1 ratio) for two minutes. This will stop any further release of venom from the stinging cells left on the skin.
3. Use a plastic credit card to remove any residual tentacles and excess baking soda mixture
4. Apply cold packs for 5-15 minutes. For example, use a bag of ice or even cold drink wrapped in a cloth.
5. Assess the degree of pain and reapply cold pack if required for further 5 mins
6. If pain persists, consult a doctor or pharmacist who should prescribe painkillers and/or anti-inflammatory creams e.g. 3-4% Lidocaine and Hydrocortisone.
7. DO NOT wrap in bandages nor use vinegar, fresh water, alcohol and ammonia, all of which can aggravate the situation further.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).