Bronte Beach has been hit with a bluebottle jellyfish invasion this week. Swimmers and beachgoers have been warned to exercise caution as hundreds of bluebottles have washed up on the shore.
Photo Credit: The Australian Museum
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, has put swimmers at risk of painful stings from the venomous creatures. Bronte Beach, located just south of the world-famous Bondi Beach and north of Coogee Beach, is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.
In a statement, Waverley Council, the local government authority responsible for the beach, said that it would be conducting clean-up operations throughout Thursday night to address the issue.
“Bluebottles come ashore frequently in the warmer months when there are prevailing onshore winds and are deposited on the beach at high tide,” the council spokesman said. “This has been particularly noticeable this week at the southern end of Bronte Beach which is exposed to north-easterly winds.”
Bluebottles, also known as the Portuguese man-of-war, are not deadly to humans, but their sting can be extremely painful. According to researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the bluebottle’s long, trailing tentacles are designed to sting prey and any creatures they feel threatened by, including humans.
The bluebottle swarm at Bronte Beach comes just days after a similar incident at nearby Coogee Beach, where hundreds of mysterious black balls were discovered washed up on the shore. Randwick Council, the local authority responsible for Coogee Beach, closed the beach while it investigated the material, ultimately concluding that the balls were a hydrocarbon-based pollutant “consistent with the makeup of tar balls.”
Published 2-November-2024
