Be Careful! Stinging Jellyfish overrun South Aegean Seaside The South Aegean Seaside Region Click for Enlargement Thanks to Türkiye Karayolları Atlas 100s of thousands of Portuguese Man-of-War-like jellyfish (denizanası) have invaded Muğla province along the high-profile Aegean resort seaside near Datça and Marmaris. The Bodrum Belediyesi (Bodrum Municipality) and the Türk Deniz Vakfı (The Turkish Sea Foundation) report that the jelly fish have overrun the coast of Datça and have entered Gökova Körfez (Gökova Bay) from the open sea, creating a serious problem for Marmaris and seaside coves like Sedir, Boncuk, İngiliz Limanı, Hisarönü, Orhaniye and Turgut -- and even posing a threat to Bodrum. As a precautionary measure, local authorities have published brochures in Turkish and English (with photographs of the poisonous jelly-creatures, as shown in the article above) that are being distributed to residents and foreign tourists alike. The brochures make it plain just how dangerous the jelly fish are for vacationers. Doçent Dr. Mustafa Erdem (head of the Muğla University Water Products Faculty) has called for a wide ranging research study to determine the cause of the current invasion -- and has added his personal warning that everyone should be extremely careful when entering the sea, until the danger has passed. Dr. Erdem said that those with allergies were particularly vulnerable to complications arising from contact with the stinging jelly fish. Until now...extreme temperatures (reaching as high as 50 C in that part of the Aegean Region this summer) have been blamed for the unusual number and the unusual timing of the jelly fish invasion. Erdem's study aims to learn the facts of the matter. Here where we live along the mid-Aegean Seacoast, one or two residents of our seaside village get stung by a less-poisonous variety of jellyfish almost every year -- usually in June. In fact... our daughter Yeşim was a jellyfish victim in 2005. So far this year, we haven't had any stinging incidents -- and are hoping that it stays that way!