Warmer weather brings more jellyfish to Dutch beaches

With the recent heatwave and the overall warm weather the Netherlands has been experiencing in the past few weeks, more jellyfish have made their way to Dutch beaches. Sneaky stingers are hitting Zeeland, and hundreds of jellyfish have washed up in Friesland.

Hundreds of jellyfish washed up on Dutch beach

On a beach on the east side of Vlieland, in the Dutch province of Friesland, residents witnessed quite a sight recently. Hundreds of jellyfish had washed ashore, covering a large stretch of the beach.

How such a large number of jellyfish were beached is uncertain, but experts believe that the pleasant summer weather and the wind have something to do with it. "During warmer periods of the year, there are always a lot of jellyfish," founder of Kwallenradar (jellyfish radar) Lex van Hees told RTL Nieuws. "That, combined with the wind direction, means they wash ashore in large numbers—albeit accidentally."

It is common for jellyfish to wash up on beaches along the Dutch coast during the summer months, but the sheer number this time was still shocking. “This could happen anywhere, but this is extreme," said van Hees. Using the Kwallenradar, residents can see where there are large numbers of jellyfish in the Netherlands.

Zeeland warns swimmers to avoid jellyfish

This is not the first time this summer that jellyfish have made headlines. Earlier this season, dozens of swimmers at Grevelingendam in Zeeland were stung by an unknown critter.

First, the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland thought it was the weever fish, which has venomous spines, urging residents to avoid swimming at the beach. Experts later revealed that the cross jellyfish was actually responsible for the stings.

"Now that there are so many cross jellyfish at that location, we can say that these complaints arose because of this," a provincial spokesperson told Omroep Zeeland. The spokesperson went on to warn people not to swim or walk through areas of seaweed where the jellyfish are often found. If stung, residents are advised to rinse the affected area with cold seawater.