The development of the MED-JELLY smart phone application in the Maltese islands

Abstract

An innovative smart phone application, which gives users up-to-date information on facilities found in most bathing areas in the Maltese Islands, weather forecast for

the same beaches and on the risk of jellyfish occurrence on the same beaches,

has been recently developed by the Alert Group, after being commissioned by the IOI-MOC at the University of Malta within the ambit of the MED-JELLYRISK project. Sting treatment information for most of the jellyfish species occurring in Maltese

waters is also provided by the same application, which also provides additional

information on the same jellyfish species

concerning description, distribution, seasonality, etc. Another feature of the smart

phone application is that it allows users to submit reports of sighted jellyfish species,

reports which will further feed into the existing database in support of the jellyfish

occurrence forecast system.

The jellyfish occurrence forecast for different Maltese beaches draws on reports

of jellyfish sightings submitted within the Maltese citizen science campaign Spot the Jellyfish. The MED-JELLY application

for the Maltese Islands follows the model

established initially by the application version developed for Spanish beaches. The

fully-functional MED-JELLY application for Maltese beaches was made available for

free download by users for both the Android and iOS platforms as from the end

of May 2014. The smart phone application will serve as a useful tool for bathers and beach managers alike in providing both

foresight when choosing the beach of destination and also hindsight in being able to

treat stings effectively and safely.