Bracing for jellyfish this summer

Abstract

The International Ocean Institute-Malta Operational Centre (IOI-MOC) at the University is coordinating the organisation of a Med-Jellyrisk conference on Tuesday and training seminar on Wednesday at the Corinthia St George’s Hotel in St Julian’s. Besides commemorating European Maritime Day, the events will showcase the array of tools that have been developed by the project to address the jellyfish bloom phenomenon. These tools include a smart phone application, which has just been launched by the IOI-MOC for both iOS (iPhone) and Android platforms, that provides users information about different jellyfish species and about local beaches. Other tools include a waterproof factsheet that answers the most common questions about jellyfish blooms, mathematical models to predict the dispersion of jellyfish blooms once these are sighted in open waters, and a waterproof booklet with scientific advice as how to treat the stings of different jellyfish species.