PENANG island is no stranger to the jellyfish, whose sting is the bane of its fishermen and beachgoers, and a threat to human life as well as the fishery and tourism industries.

The state does not keep an official record of the number of people who have been stung by the jellyfish, but it is well known that such cases are common.

Marine researchers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are now studying the population increase of the gelatinous sea creature to find ways to control the numbers.

USM’s Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) marine ecology expert Professor Zulfigar Yasin said researchers must find out why the jellyfish population was on the rise now and how it could be contained.

To fishermen, their tentacles, which often get caught in fishing nets, are a cause of agony when they come into contact with skin.

But better knowledge of the aquatic invertebrate is vital for several reasons, said Zulfigar.

Ignorance can lead to deaths resulting from by its sting to be wrongly categorised as drownings or heart failure.

A box jellyfish sting can cause hypertension, extreme lower back pain, nausea, intense cramps and breathing difficulties. It can result in heart failure, which can cause the victim to drown. 

“It is not that we want to scare people the box jellyfish, but knowledge is important. We should be ready to handle cases of emergencies that are caused by jellyfish stings,” Cemacs director Professor Aileen Tan Shau Hwai said. 

Some hospitals in the country were not familiar with treating jellyfish stings, said Zulfigar, who, with Tan, was speaking at a Cemacs’ seminar, “The Emerging Jellyfish Threat” in Teluk Bahang.

The talk emphasised the need for stakeholders like beach hotels and the emergency and medical services to be geared to treat jellyfish stings.

What more jellyfish means

“We know that when there is an increase in the jellyfish population, seafood catches drop. That has been recorded in Japan.

“In Malaysia, it is the same. In the last five years, there has been a decrease of 85% in shellfish catches.

“We don’t know for sure how this is related to the jellyfish population except that they share the same habitat,” Zulfigar said.

In the past, local researchers only collected quantitative data on the species of jellyfish found in local waters. There were no in-depth studies of the ecology or the seasonality of the marine lifeform.

Zulfigar said there was little knowledge of the ecology of the creatures.

“We need to know why jellyfish grow near estuaries. If we can understand why, we may be able to curb the population growth through biological control.

“Usually, life grows when there is food. Sewage can promote the growth of plankton, which is food to the jellyfish. Perhaps another reason is that the creatures that eat jellyfish, like turtles, are on the decline.

“We must wholly understand the process that is happening now,” he said.

Tan said Cemacs was planning a five-year study that encompasses the close monitoring of the Straits of Malacca.

Fishermen who have experience dealing with jellyfish will be consulted and the scientists will look for measures that could help people avoid the creature.

“We will monitor for at least five years. At least we should be able to advise stakeholders, like fishermen, tourism players and event organisers, where and when to avoid holding activities like marine sports when the jellyfish population is blooming,” she said.
 

Zulfigar said increased human activities in the sea also increased exposure to jellyfish stings, but at the moment nobody could tell which part of the sea they should avoid when the jellyfish were in season.

“Seasoned fishermen can tell us when the jellyfish is in season, but not where or how many. So USM will be using satellites, remote sensing and other technology to monitor the sea to collect data.”

Public awareness

Wan Mohizan Wan Hussein, a local photographer and fishing hobbyist, said fishermen did not report jellyfish stings as they were an everyday occurrence.

Speaking at the Cemacs seminar, he said he recently caught two box jellyfish, known to local fishermen as “geronggong” and handed them over to the centre.

“Sometimes you cannot see these jellyfish from your boat. But they will end up in the nets, and you will know when the pain hits you,” he said, adding that fishermen used oil made of sea cucumber called “minyak gamat” as a remedy. 

More than 600 cases of jellyfish stings have been reported in the last three years in Langkawi, and three deaths due to stings were  reported in Langkawi, Penang, and Sabah. 

The Cemacs building bears the first jellyfish warning sign in Penang. The sign also offers first aid advice, showing a bottle of vinegar as the treatment for stings.

Tan said the Penang chapter of the Malaysia Hoteliers Association will be responsible for ensuring that sea-fronting resorts in the state put up similar signs to create better awareness of jellyfish stings and the correct treatment.

Recently, Cemacs shared its findings on the jellyfish threat, including from the small but deadly Chironex box jellyfish which has been found in Penang waters. 

Cemacs, which is spearheading jellyfish studies in Southeast Asia, is hosting a three-day workshop on the jellyfish threat for 20 participants from 10 countries, which ends tomorrow.

Tan said workshop participants would coordinate efforts to monitor the jellyfish in their respective countries and compare data, after which they would share their findings and what they would do next.

“Hopefully by mid next year we will have a standard operating procedure, and from there we will be able to monitor and come up with a chart for the global jellyfish population. We need to fill in the knowledge gap,” she said. – December 6, 2017.