Altea shuts beach after Portuguese Man O'War sighted

Altea (Alicante province) has banned bathers for the moment, and the poisonous species have been seen on the Levante and Mal Pas beaches in neighbouring Benidorm earlier this month.

Although it looks – and stings – like a jellyfish, the Portuguese Man O'War is in fact a different species altogether, a marine hydrozoan from the Physaliidae family normally found in the Pacific, Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, but not normally in the Mediterranean.

Given their very close similarity, the Portuguese Man O'War, or Physalia Physalis, is often referred to as a 'false jellyfish'.

Its stings are extremely painful and poisonous, and in some very rare cases, have proven fatal.

As yet, Altea's environmental councillor Bea Nomdedeu says no reports have been received of members of the public being stung, and the coastguard service has not mentioned sightings for a day or two.

But the beach remains shut and will stay that way until at least the weekend, in case they come back, or longer if they are spotted again.

Lifeguards on the two aforementioned Benidorm beaches worked round the clock for two days about a fortnight ago clearing up these perilous creatures.

They fished out 14 of them altogether.