PICS: Surprising early morning bloom of night light jellyfish in Durban

Early risers were treated to a bloom of night light or mauve stinger jellyfish on the beach in Durban on Thursday.

South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) spokesperson Ann Kunz stated that while the KwaZulu-Natal coastline falls within their natural distribution, these pelagic species are not typically found near the shore.

“The recent strong winds we have been experiencing over the past few days probably pushed them close to the shore,” Kunz said.

She explained that these small beautiful jellyfish can sting on contact even after washing up on the beach.

“These jellyfish can produce a small amount of light, a form of bioluminescence, which is usually visible only in the dark of night, hence their name ‘night light jellyfish’,” Kunz said.

“They primarily consume planktonic material including the eggs and larvae of a variety of species including small invertebrates.”

Kunz said that in KZN waters, these uncommon inshore visitors are in turn preyed upon by turtles and bigger jellyfish.

“If you or your child are stung by one of these jellyfish, rinse the affected area continuously with warm water until the pain subsides. Although uncommon, severe reactions or prolonged side effects should be taken to a medical professional,” Kunz advised.

Not all was lost in the morning and the Saambr team managed to save some of these jellyfish and “they are now doing quite well in one of the aquarium exhibits”, Kunz said.

She added that if uShaka Sea World visitors want to see the jellyfish, they should head to the “Into the Deep” exhibition area after the large shark exhibit.

Last year, there was an increase in the number of jellyfish appearing close to the shoreline along the KZN coastline.

At the time, Kunz said the most common cause of jellyfish blooms in KZN is thought to be temperature variations, and ocean and wind patterns.

The jellyfish were blue blubber jellyfish of the phylum Cnidaria. These bell-shaped jellyfish get their name from their distinct colouring (usually blue) produced by the jellyfish and are not a symbiotic algae.

“Jellyfish ‘swim’ by contracting and relaxing their muscles at the margin of their bells. By contracting these muscles, they tighten the bottom of the bell which forces water out and propels them forward.

“Since their mouths are so small (yes, jellyfish have mouths), at uShaka Sea World we feed our jellyfish a combination of two-day-old artemia and rotifers (crustaceans),” Kunz said.

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