Unprecedented invasion in France: “There were thousands of them, lying on the beach”
The spectacle is disturbing and out of the ordinary: this Sunday, October 27, thousands of jellyfish were discovered near Perpignan (France).
A couple of walkers by experienced a scene that was surreal, to say the least. As they arrived in Canet-en-Roussillon, on the coast, the two lovers came across thousands of jellyfish stranded on the sand, and others alive in the water. The woman says: "There are dozens of them per cubic meter, lying on the sand. We have never seen such a phenomenon, at least never to this extent". In the rolling waves, the Canétoise identified jellyfish, was very much alive this time. "We saw the first ones at the port of Canet-en-Roussillon, but there were many all along the beach. There were thousands of them! They must have arrived during the night from Saturday to Sunday because, on Saturday afternoon, when I went for a walk, the jellyfish weren't there," reports L'Indépendant.
One of the onlookers, who has long been active in the maritime sector, claimed that they were Pelagia noctiluca jellyfish, which live mainly in the Mediterranean. So why this sudden invasion? Ocean currents, global warming and particularly mild current temperatures (jellyfish prefer to reproduce in warm waters) may have contributed to this unexpected presence.
(MH with AsD - Source: L'Indépendant - Illustration: Unsplash)