You might want to skip the beach this week.

A significant number of dangerous ‘Mauve Stinger’ jellyfish have been spotted along the Clonakilty coastline.

A mauve stinger jellyfish sting can be very painful. While not fatal, the sting can feel searing, last for up to two weeks, and in some cases, lead to nausea or vomiting.

The jellyfish were first identified around Galley Head by West Cork based ecologist Ciarán Cronin, who shared photos on Facebook.

“I found huge numbers of jellyfish washed up on shore. The sea was thick with them too.” Cronin said.

“This species of jellyfish appears to be the Mauve Stinger (Pelagia noctiluca). This is a very dangerous jellyfish, with an extremely painful sting. In these numbers it could potentially be really dangerous, causing swimmers to go into shock etc.

“Now, I don’t know the extent of this bloom, and it may be very limited in extent, but I would assume it’s pretty extensive along the Cork coast, or even further afield. So please take extreme care at the seashore, or in the sea.”

Mauve Stinger jellyfish photographed at Galley Head by Ciarán Cronin of Wildeye.

Cronin, who runs the wildlife survey business, Wildeye, said particular care should be taken with children and pets who may go investigating on the seashore.

“Just because they are washed up, most certainly does not mean that tentacles (attached or broken and mixed into other seashore debris) are inactive. Touching them can still result in very painful stings.
Swimmers should be particularly careful! This is a real danger.” he added.

Other sightings have been recorded in Barleycove and at Lough Hyne in the last week.