Constant south-easterly winds and the sighting Monday, 30 March, of a large amount of sea thimbles, have prompted the Department of Environmental Health to issue a public warning of possible sea itch next week.

“The Department of Environment wishes to inform the public that significant amounts of sea thimbles have been reported in the waters around Grand Cayman (30 March 2009), and that swimmers may wish to be aware of the increased possibility of encountering sea itch, sea thimbles or other jellyfish while in Cayman waters in the near future,” DoE Research Officer, John Bothwell stated in a media release.

Mr Bothwell told Cayman Net News that the alert is based on observations by a DoE officer. He said that uncertainty surrounds whether the sea thimbles will begin affecting bathers because a change in the wind direction could possibly blow them away with the current. “Basically they get washed around the sea,” he said explaining how the creatures are moved about. “Usually northerly winds wash them away from Cayman’s shores but we can’t predict that they absolutely will.”

The public advisory, he said is at this stage a cautionary measure based on the predictability of events over the coming days.

The Cayman Islands Meteorological Service forecast for this entire week does not point to northerly winds. Moving in a south-easterly direction from Monday through Wednesday, the wind is forecast to drift east-southeast Thursday, then going south to southeast Friday.

“What will happen next is anyone’s guess,” Mr Bothwell said.

He said that the sea thimbles seen Monday could be spawning over the next few days, and it is the tiny larvae that cause the sea itch

“While it is not possible to see the larvae, and the presence of adult jellyfish does not necessarily correlate to the presence of their larvae, the abundance of thimble jellies recently reported to the Department raises the possibility that sea itch outbreaks may also be observed at this time.”

He advised, “Encounters with sea itch, sea thimbles or other mildly toxic jellyfish can be treated with simple medication available from local pharmacies. Naturally, anyone experiencing severe allergic reaction, extreme discomfort or pain after any marine creature interaction should seek medical attention immediately.”

According to wikipedia.org, Jellyfish (also known as jellies or sea jellies) are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa (about 200 species), Staurozoa (about 50 species), Cubozoa (about 20 species), and Hydrozoa (about 1000-1500 species that make jellyfish and many more that do not.

The jellyfish in these groups are also called, respectively, scyphomedusae, stauromedusae, cubomedusae, and hydromedusae; “medusa” (plural “medusae”) is another word for jellyfish. Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea.