Massive Jellyfish Swarm Hits Spanish Beaches

A massive swarm of jellyfish has invaded a Spanish tourist hotspot just weeks before the summer tourist season hits its peak.
Thousands of the bizarre-looking 'Fried Egg' jellyfish have arrived in the waters of Mar Menor, a coastal saltwater lagoon just down the coast from Benidorm.
Grim footage shows how the creepy armada is so thick in the sea that swimmers would not be able to move without touching them.
Spanish media have described the bizarre phenomenon as a plague, with the tourism industry fearful that it will ruin local hotels this summer.
The stings of the species are not lethal or dangerous to human swimmers but can cause itches or allergic reactions.
The sudden increase in Fried Egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) in the waters has been blamed on rising sea temperatures, according to local media.
Mar Menor is known for La Manga, a strip of land lined with luxury hotel resorts that separates the lagoon from the open sea.
Isabel Rubio, from the Pacto por el Mar Menor environmental organisation, told local media: "This year they have appeared much earlier than other times. Before they appeared later in July.
"This year at the beginning of June they were already here."
She added: "There will be many more this summer than last year."
Local authorities used to put up nets in the area to protect the beaches and bathers from the jellyfish but they were so overwhelmed they abandoned them.
Rubio explained: "The scientific community is not in favour of putting up nets. People demand them, but the nets should not be put up."
She added: "The jellyfish are so small that they would pass through the holes in the nets.
"When they get big, they stick to the nets, which produced a gelatinous mass that is worse than the original problem."

[@Shinglebonk]

I was f#####g swimming in this today