A new worry has come ashore to Alabama’s beaches this month, lighting up social media with pictures of red welts on swimmers’ bodies and raising fresh concerns about what could be a long, painful summer in the Gulf.

Jellyfish have swarmed Alabama’s beaches weeks ahead of schedule, packing plenty of sting and prompting purple flags to fly on beaches along the northern Gulf Coast.

The flags came down over the weekend, offering a brief reprieve. But the free-swimming, gelatinous marine animals are back and bringing the burn much sooner than their typical arrival in mid-to-late July or August.

“It seems like it’s earlier than it has been,” said Joethan Phillips, beach safety chief with the City of Gulf Shores. “It had been manageable to swim for a few days. But now people are getting stung again.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach beach safety officials are alerting visitors to heed the flag warning system.

For two weeks already this month, purple flags have flown along the beaches. A purple flag means that dangerous marine life is nearby.

And while purple flags are often perceived as a warning about a shark sighting, the cause this month has to do with jellyfish.

Officials say it’s hard to predict how long the jellyfish will stay. Conditions are prime for jellyfish – warm, calm waters with less oxygen.

When will they go away? No one knows.

“It’s hard to put a season on Mother Nature,” said Brett Lesinger, beach safety division chief with the City of Orange Beach. “Who would have thought that we would have had snow on the beach?.”

He added, “I would say there are three major things that could (chase away) jellyfish – strong winds, strong waves, and strong currents. When we have had flat water, and onshore winds from the south, it pushes everything on shore and into the sandbar areas. If we had maybe two-foot surfs, it would filter everything back out into the open water. We’re just stuck in a phase where we can’t seem to get rid of them.”

Perfect environment

Sean Powers, director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Alabama, said the Northern Gulf Coast typically experiences larger populations of jellyfish in July and August, with the activity waning by Labor Day weekend.

“Jellyfish like warmer waters,” Powers said. “They can also tolerate waters with low-dissolved oxygen in them. It’s a problem for fish species. But jellyfish don’t have blood, hemoglobin or a large amount of oxygen requirements.”

The dangerous heat wave extending over 28 states from the Midwest to the East is also affecting conditions, he said.

“It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere,” Powers said. “It’s always hot in June, but it’s unseasonably hot this June, so there might be a connection there.”

Anthony Moss, marine program coordinator at Auburn University, said it’s not uncommon to see movement of animals towards the shore in June, as long as the pattern of winds and surf are favorable.

The spring bloom is in full effect in June, Moss said, bringing tasty small crustaceans closer to shore for jellyfish to consume.

“The increased food in the water, along with the warming effect of the strong sunlight, activates the jellyfish, which have overwintering polyps that live on the (sediment) surfaces, all along the shore, in many places,” Moss said.

He said the local jellyfish polyps produce their next stage of their life cycle – the swimming form of jellyfish that causes the stinging – and start consuming the small marine animals closer onshore and get bigger.

“On top of this is the movement of offshore gelatinous animals – other jellies, toward the shore as a result of the winds and currents,” Moss said. “The combination of all the nutrients in the water fuels the growth of the entire group of organisms.”

Jellyfish species with a sting

Moss said several species of jellyfish are arriving with stings that give people burning sensations. One of the jellyfish he observed was the Nanomia bijuga – a relative of the notorious Portuguese Man O’War – that is nowhere as dangerous but still provides a sharp sting.

“People have nothing to fear with it, although they tend to get scared when they are stung because they hear so many bad stories,” Moss said, adding that he observed the Gulf filled with them near Panama City Beach.

Moss said different species of jellyfish will also arrive, including the Atlantic sea nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha), which is a human nuisance.

“It does sting, and it can leave you miserable,” Moss said. “But even so, the sting goes away, but it can take an hour or so.”

Powers said the Atlantic sea nettle is the most common jellyfish in the Gulf, bringing its long tentacles within reach of people and making their beach day uncomfortable.

He said the current swarm represents “bad luck” of environmental factors that is bringing jellyfish closer to shore in June.

Said Moss, “The strong mixing of waters nearshore with strong breezes helps to mix all these animals together. They are all seeking very similar or identical kinds of foods, and sometimes humans get in the way and get stung.”

Global warming

Powers said there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that warming seas from global warming could be a factor. He said globally, research has not shown major trends of jellyfish invasions into the seas.

“I guess the big thing is that there is probably some connection that if it’s getting warmer sooner in the summer, we would expect jellyfish to become a problem,” Powers said. “But they have been around a long time. The limited data set we have doesn’t seem to indicate that there is a long-term increase (in population).”

However, Moss said the Gulf surface temperatures are warm – very warm, as in August-like warmth. Temperature readings were in the upper 80s in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. The typical August range is 84 to 88 degrees.

“Of course everything is growing,” he said. “And the stinging jellies are loving it; there’s lots to eat.”

Helpful tips

What do you do if you’re stung by a jellyfish? Here are some helpful tips from the Mayo Clinic via WebMD:

• Carefully pluck visible tentacles with fine tweezers.
• Soak the skin in hot water. Use water that’s 110 to 113 degrees. It should feel hot, not scalding. Keep the affected skin immersed or in a hot shower until the pain eases, which might be 20 to 45 minutes.
• Apply hydrocortisone cream or ointment twice a day to the affected skin.

Beach safety officials also say the following can be helpful:

• Use a credit card to gently smooth over the wound. Rinse in saltwater.
• Use wet sand and rub it in a circular motion over the wound to help dislodge the jellyfish tentacles.
• Stay in shallower water when jellyfish are spotted in the sea.
• Do not pick up a dead jellyfish that has come ashore. It can still sting.