Jellyfish Season
A Brief Guide to Jellyfish Season
Jellyfish season extends through different months of the year, depending on what part of the world one is talking about.
In the Middle East, the jellyfish season usually arrives right before the monsoon season. Once the monsoon season arrives, generally in June, July and August, the seas are mostly jellyfish-free.
The box jellyfish season, which is very important to track, usually starts in October or November and ends in April or May. The closer you get to the equator, the earlier in the year the jellyfish season starts. Smaller jellies often appear in Australia in August, which is well beyond their normal season.
As a general rule, the larger specimens are found more towards the end of the jellyfish season, but for no known reason, you can sometimes find large jellies in some areas in the earlier months of the season. You can't plan on the jellyfish season ending exactly on schedule, either. In the southern areas of their domain, you may encounter jellies into June. Box jellyfish stings have been recorded in every month of the year in northern Australia. And in Queensland, there have been stings reported in every month except June and July.
On the east coast of the United States, August heralds the end of the summer season, but people are still swimming and so are the jellies. Jellyfish season lasts into the late summer or early fall. There are many jellyfish sightings along the beaches of South Carolina in the later months of summer.
In Myrtle Beach, the most common jellies seen late in the season are Portuguese Man O' Wars and jellyballs.
In Florida, one of the things you get along with a warm winter is a long jellyfish season. One hundred swimmers were stung in two weekends at the end of summer a few years ago. Many of them were stung by the Portuguese Man o War, which is a dangerous “jellyfish”.
On one fall weekend in Florida, about 24 swimmers in the Delray Beach Ocean Mile Swim were treated for stings from man o' war's or jellyfish. The same day in Ft. Lauderdale, almost seventy-five swimmers were treated for stings they received at the Fort Lauderdale Swim. Lifeguards were prepared, with vinegar to reduce to release of toxins from the stings, and no one was seriously hurt.
The wind shifted after that weekend, and the jellyfish season slowed a bit. But in Florida, where the man o war season lasts into March, some jellyfish stay year round. As the winter months progress, going into January and February, man o wars found in Florida are larger, with longer tentacles and a more potent sting. Then after March, there are fewer specimens around.
Wherever you live, if you're in an area with a jelly population, you would do well to find out when jellyfish season is in your area. It could prevent a nasty sting or a visit to the hospital.