Portuguese man o' war strandings.....

With the Marine Conservation Society reporting mass strandings of Portuguese man o' war in the south-west; the largest in number since 2012, it was no surprise when Tom sent these pictures through from the beach between Swansea Uni and Black Pill. There were 5 in total.

The Portuguese Man o’ War isn’t a jellyfish but is closely related, and consists of a floating colony of hydrozoans – several tiny marine organisms living together and behaving collectively as if one animal. A purple float, shaped a little like a Cornish pasty, is visible on the water’s surface whilst blue, tentacle-like ‘fishing polyps’ hang below; these can be tens of metres in length.“It’s the tentacle-like polyps that can give an agonising and potentially lethal sting,” says Dr Richardson. “Because a stranded Portuguese Man o’ war looks a bit like a deflating purple balloon with blue ribbons attached, children will find it fascinating. So, if you’re visiting west coast beaches in the next few weeks it’s well worth making sure you know what these animals look like and that no one picks them up. The stings can be unbelievably painful and in rare cases, fatal. We’d like people to report any sightings of Portuguese man o’ war to our website so we get a better idea of the extent of the strandings”.  (www.mcsuk.org/news/portuguese-man-o-war-on-beaches)