Swimming has been prohibited over several of the past few due to concern over pretty sea slugs with a potentially very painful sting

The local police warn not to handle these creatures

Guardamar del Segura has had to close its beaches for swimming several times over the last few days, due to the presence of blue dragon sea slugs (Glaucus atlanticus) in the sea.

Despite the fascinating appearance of these miniscule marine molluscs, which only measure up to 4cm but are often much smaller, they are venomous and their sting can be very painful.

Symptoms can include nausea, pain and vomiting, and people with allergies should be particularly cautious, as they could have a severe reaction.

Due to this danger, the red flag was raised when a few of them were found in the water at Playa Vivers last Wednesday, August 20.

The municipality extended this measure as a precaution across all its beaches throughout that day and last Thursday too.

Mayor José Luis Sáez said an operation had been launched to detect any more of the creatures that may be brought towards the shore by the currents.

He warned the public not to touch them, even with gloves, and said to alert the lifeguards or authorities to any sightings.

Anyone who gets stung should wash it with seawater and go to a lifeguard or health centre, the mayor advised.

The threat level was downgraded to a yellow flag on Friday until the early evening, when four more were detected at Playa Ortigues and one more at Playa Centro.

Municipal services, local police and lifeguards resumed their search for any more of the creatures, and increasing numbers were found on Saturday.

The red flags were unfurled again throughout the weekend, accompanied by a warning to take great care when walking along the shore as well.

In the neighboring municipality of Torrevieja, authorities decided to raise the yellow flag on La Mata beach as a precautionary measure.

So far on Monday, the coast has been clear but it is advisable to keep an eye on the town hall’s social network profile before making a trip to a beach in the municipality.

Torrevieja town hall’s biologist, Juan Antonio Pujol emphasised that although the blue dragons do contain venom, this is very unlikely to be dangerous.

He explained that the creatures accumulate venom from their prey, which are usually larger jellyfish.

Although this prey can include Portuguese men o’war, which have potentially very dangerous venom, none of these have been sighted along the Costa Blanca recently, and the blue dragons will principally have been feeding on jellyfish which have only mild stings or none at all.

They should nevertheless not be touched and children and people with allergies or pre-existing conditions should take particular care.

When blue dragons were spotted in this area in April 2023, it was the first local sighting for 300 years, but Pujol said it seems that we will have to get used to these normally tropical and subtropical ocean dwellers visiting our coasts more often.

Images: Ayuntamiento de Guardamar del Segura / Facebook

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