Puri: Tourists and sea lovers Friday demanded immediate measures to clean up the Puri beach and maintain hygiene after dead jellyfish were frequently spotted near the shore.
The demands came after several people, mostly tourists, complained that dead jellyfish were floating in the sea and that they came into contact with them while bathing.
Some also reported itching on their bodies and had to seek medical attention.
“One or two persons visit the district headquarters hospital daily with complaints of itching on their skin after taking a bath in the sea. We do not know whether it is due to jellyfish or something else. Around 50 people have complained of itching after a sea bath over the past month,” Dr. Narayan Prasad Nanda, in-charge of disease control in Puri district, told PTI.
Manik Ghosh (35), a tourist from Kolkata, said, “While taking a bath, I felt some slightly sticky substance on my body. The sticky substance was like gel, thick and clear. Later, I felt an itching sensation on my skin. This could be due to jellyfish.”
He claimed that some dead jellyfish were also seen floating on the seawater near Digabareni area.
Lifeguards and local fishermen confirmed that the sticky substance was nothing but dead jellyfish.
“People with sensitive skin feel an itching sensation, while it has no impact on us,” said Govind, a fisherman.
While none are certain about jellyfish invasion on Puri coast, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vivek Kumar said those might have washed up due to the wind patterns during summer.
“Jellyfish are mostly seen away from the coast and in deep-sea areas,” said another forest department official, adding that such incidents were also reported in April last year.
“During this period, jellyfish mostly come to the shore,” he said, noting that similar cases were witnessed in June 2022 and May 2021, before the landfall of cyclone Yaas on the Odisha coast.
Environmentalists, however, expressed concern over the deaths of jellyfish in deep sea.
“Jellyfish are generally found in deep sea, but the dead ones come near the shore due to the wind patterns,” said Rathindra Mishra, a local resident.
