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Ecologists demand answers for the population boom of fried egg jellyfish in the Mar Menor
Top water quality and conditions are vital if the Mar Menor hospitality industry is to have a successful summer
Summer is here and so begins the most precarious season for the Mar Menor. The consistently rising temperatures following the recent downpour that dragged nutrient-dense sediment into the waters has ecologists on high alert and the delicate lagoon is being constantly monitored to avoid another episode of the green soupy water that has been appearing since 2016.
The tourism sector in Spain is getting prepared for the best season of all time but in the popular Mar Menor, this all depends on the state of the water.
For this reason, the Pact for the Mar Menor organisation has called on the Ministry of the Environment and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) to tackle two evident issues before they get out of hand: the influx of the ‘fried egg’ jellyfish and the appearance of the white spot of water that developed a few months ago.
The town halls have decided against placing jellyfish nets in the Mar Menor again this year, structures that would prevent the stinging nuisances from coming close to shore. But the ‘fried egg’, or the Cotylorhiza tuberculata jellyfish as it’s scientifically known, is booming in the area and has now colonised a huge part of the lagoon.
On the other hand, the 15 square kilometres of water to the centre-west of the Mar Menor developed an unappealing whitish hue several months back and a May report warns that the changing colour could signify increasing turbidity values.
Faced with this situation, the group Pacto por el Mar Menor has called on the government to explain to members of the public, in plain language, why these two phenomena are occurring to avoid “social alarm” that could injure the tourism industry.
According to the IEO, the presence of large numbers of the fried fish jellyfish clearly point to the worsening state of the Mar Menor, since they thrive on “the imbalance and influx of nutrients”.
In fact, while bathers may loathe the creatures, they can actually be beneficial to the lagoon, the experts explained: “They are removing nitrogen from the water column, they are taking nutrients. But at the end of the summer they die and everything they have taken returns to the system.
“I don’t see anything abnormal in what is happening. It is nothing extraordinary,” the IEO added.
As far as the white body of water goes, the researchers explained that the bleaching is related to the biological activity of the plankton in the lagoon, a phenomenon also probably caused by additional of nutrients from the nearby Rambla del Albujón.
“It has not been previously observed in the Mar Menor and its properties, its dynamics and its possible consequences in the lagoon ecosystem are still not clear. New samples are being analysed,” the IEO concluded.
Image: Pacto por el Mar Menor
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