Teh One Who Knocks
08-08-2014, 11:13 AM
Amy Willis - Metro News
http://i.imgur.com/2drJSfv.jpg
First there was an invasion of giant barrel jellyfish on British beaches.
Their metre-long umbrella-shaped bell and sprawling translucent tentacles looked menacing but they were thankfully harmless.
Now experts are warning that the potentially lethal Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish could also be on the way to the UK as tropical storm Bertha approaches.
The blue-tinged floating marine beast is one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world with venom that can cause agonising rashes for its victims or at worst be fatal.
Its stinging tentacles can grow up to 165ft long making it difficult to avoid in the water.
The jellyfish can drift thousands of miles in the wind, meaning that as Bertha approaches the UK the creatures could be dragged along with it from the Caribbean.
The recent hot weather has also caused an explosion in plankton, their main food source, adding to fears.
http://i.imgur.com/8Cjasow.jpg
This would not be the first time Man-of-War jellyfish (technically a floating colony of hydrozoans but we won’t get into that) have been found in the UK.
Between 2003 and 2006 the Marine Conservation Society received 10 reports of Portugeues Man-of-War in British waters.
These increased each year until in 2009 more than 60 sightings were recorded mainly from west and southern England.
There is now a 70 per cent Big Bertha will hit Britain this Sunday, threatening to cause more weather chaos.
http://i.imgur.com/2drJSfv.jpg
First there was an invasion of giant barrel jellyfish on British beaches.
Their metre-long umbrella-shaped bell and sprawling translucent tentacles looked menacing but they were thankfully harmless.
Now experts are warning that the potentially lethal Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish could also be on the way to the UK as tropical storm Bertha approaches.
The blue-tinged floating marine beast is one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world with venom that can cause agonising rashes for its victims or at worst be fatal.
Its stinging tentacles can grow up to 165ft long making it difficult to avoid in the water.
The jellyfish can drift thousands of miles in the wind, meaning that as Bertha approaches the UK the creatures could be dragged along with it from the Caribbean.
The recent hot weather has also caused an explosion in plankton, their main food source, adding to fears.
http://i.imgur.com/8Cjasow.jpg
This would not be the first time Man-of-War jellyfish (technically a floating colony of hydrozoans but we won’t get into that) have been found in the UK.
Between 2003 and 2006 the Marine Conservation Society received 10 reports of Portugeues Man-of-War in British waters.
These increased each year until in 2009 more than 60 sightings were recorded mainly from west and southern England.
There is now a 70 per cent Big Bertha will hit Britain this Sunday, threatening to cause more weather chaos.