As is customary at this time of year, hundreds of fried egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) have been spotted and reported by the public as part of the Spot the Jellyfish campaign along different Maltese coastal areas, especially around Comino, the north coast of Gozo, Wied iz-Zurrieq and Marsascala. Testimony to the precise timing of the occurrence of the fried egg jellyfish swarms, the species is also known in Maltese as ‘tal-lampuki’ (in clear reference to the dolphin fish, which is caught at this time of year) as well by the descriptive monicker of ‘qassata’, which is a traditional Maltese pastry. Despite its size, the fried egg jellyfish is innocuous and its occurrence is short-lived, normally extending till the start of October at most.

Last year, thousands of the creatures were fished out of the water by boaters and bathers alike, who feared that they might be stung by the qassata, as it is known locally. The truth is that these creatures do not sting and are benign. Their stingers do not aggravate human skin and they are harmless.

Interestingly enough, juveniles of mackerel are frequently observed sheltering amongst the purple-tipped tentacles of the jellyfish. Way back in 1977, Guido Lanfranco reported the occurrence of large numbers of the fried egg jellyfish in Maltese bays, especially in those facing the south and south-east. The size of fried egg jellyfish aggregations so far are nowhere near the staggering dimensions of those observed in September of last year. Sightings of the fried egg jellyfish received so far make up five per cent of the over 300 jellyfish sightings reports received so far. A total of nine gelatinous plankton species have been recorded so far as part of the Spot the Jellyfish initiative.

The Spot the Jellyfish initiative is coordinated by Aldo Drago with the technical and scientific implementation of Alan Deidun and staff of IOI-MOC, and enjoys the support of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) and of Nature Trust, Friends of the Earth, EkoSkola and the BlueFlag Malta programme. The initiative follows a citizen science approach and relies on the collaboration of the general public, mariners, divers, and especially the younger generations through their teachers and parents, by recruiting their assistance in recording the presence and location of different jellyfish through the use of a dedicated colourful reporting leaflet. The leaflet is being widely distributed, and can be directly downloaded from www.ioikids.net/jellyfish, which is replete with snippets and anecdotes about different jellyfish species. With the support of MTA, large posters have furthermore been projected on boards along major bays on both islands.

The reporting is done by simply matching the sighted jellyfish with a simple visual identification guide, giving the date and time of the sighting, and indicating the number of jellies seen. Sightings can be also reported online or submitted through an SMS on 7922-2278, or by sending an email to [email protected]. Strange jellyfish not included on the leaflet should be caught and kept in a bucketful of seawater prior to contacting IOI-MOC staff ([email protected]) for retrieval to attempt a definite identification of the species. If this is not possible, photos of the same individuals should be taken.

So far, over 200 records of different jellyfish species have been submitted by the public, and can be viewed online on a summary map (http://193.188.45.233/jellyfish/stats.html) which depicts jellyfish occurrence and distribution.