Beach users in Burnham-On-Sea, Berrow and Brean have been warned to watch out for jellyfish along tide lines.
Several Moon Jellyfish, which can deliver a mild sting, have been washed up at Brean in recent days.
The heatwave and warm summer weather have led to an increase in the numbers of the creatures around the UK coastline.
Beach wardens in our area are recommending paddlers keep an eye out for the creatures as a precaution.
A spokesman for the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “While some jellyfish are harmless or have a very mild sting, others have a more painful sting. We recommend that, for your own safety, you do not touch them.”
Dr Peter Richardson, the MCS Biodiversity Programme Manager and jellyfish expert, says this year was a relatively quiet year for jellyfish reports until the warm weather kicked in.
“The scarcity of jellyfish reports around the UK before June was unusual and could well be linked to the exceptionally cold spring,” he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“However, as our waters have warmed, sightings of jellyfish have increased, with moon jellyfish reported in large numbers around the UK, including reports of compass and blue jellyfish in the south west.”
He added: “There is some evidence that jellyfish numbers are increasing in places around the world, including UK seas, although some scientists argue that jellyfish numbers increase and then decrease normally every 20 years or so.”
“However, others believe these increases are linked to factors such as pollution, over-fishing and possibly climate change. I think we should consider jellyfish populations as important indicators of the state of our seas, and the annual MCS jellyfish survey helps provide some of the information we need to understand more about them. Sightings can be easily reported at www.mcsuk.org.”
During the last decade, 7,500 jellyfish reports around the UK have been made by the public to MCS.
Pictured: Top, a Moon Jellyfish washed up on Brean beach and, above, paddlers on Burnham beach
