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Anti-jellyfish nets are being rolled out this summer after all at four Mar Menor beaches, with the authorities getting ready for another possible jellyfish invasion like the one that hit last year.

 

The General Directorate of the Mar Menor will be setting up the nets at Villananitos and Lo Pagán beaches in San Pedro del Pinatar, as well as Veneziola and El Pantalán beaches at the end of La Manga in San Javier, after both town councils repeatedly requested them.

 

The Ministry of the Environment has brought forward the installation dates to mid-July after local councils and hotel owners complained about last summer's delays in getting the nets up.

 

They've also spotted more jellyfish showing up on the northern basin beaches, including swarms of fried egg jellyfish (Cotyloryza tuberculata) along with the more common Rhizostoma pulmo and Phyllorhiza punctata varieties.

 

Scientists suggested putting the anti-jellyfish nets on hold during 2022 and 2023 because they were worried the nets would interfere with water flow in swimming areas. When the water isn’t continuously moving, it can speed mud build-up around beaches and lead to more green algae washing up on shore.

 

Last summer, the expert committee advising the regional government decided that if nets were going to be used, it should only be when really needed and in very specific spots.

 

"In response to the demands of the local councils, and in accordance with the exceptional nature of the measure imposed by the Scientific Committee, and given the situation similar to that of the previous year, the nets are being installed in the same manner as in 2024. That is, in the same bathing areas where they were installed last year, Villananitos and Lo Pagán, and on the beaches of Veneziola and Pantalán at the end of La Manga," explained sources from the Environment Department.

 

The mid-July start date makes sense from a technical standpoint: they're waiting for the jellyfish to get big enough that they can't slip through the nets, which makes the whole system work better and keeps beachgoers from being bothered unnecessarily.

 

The Ministry of the Environment had already been working on a special request to put up these barriers over the next four years along 43 kilometres of Mar Menor beaches, but only when they're actually needed.

 

In addition, the Ministry plans to step up net cleaning "very intensively, to prevent them from clogging and affecting the hydrodynamics of the beaches." When they take the nets down after summer, they'll check for any seahorses that might have got stuck on them.

 

The work covers getting the nets transported and put in place, adding floats to reduce impact on the seabed plus weekly cleaning and replacement, keeping an eye on how they affect the environment and putting together monthly reports on how things are going. The whole operation will end up costing more than €73,000.

 

 

Image: CARM