The citizen science campaign, which has been run by the University of Malta since June 2010, has recently been featured as a good practice example of such campaigns within an in-depth article published in the British newspaper The Guardian, which gave a board overview of the jellyfish blooming phenomenon from different seas around the world.
The Spot the Jellyfish initiative, which is coordinated by Prof. Alan Deidun, with the support of Dr Adam Gauci and Mr Johann Galdies, within the Department of Geosciences of the Faculty of Science, was conceived by Prof. Aldo Drago, documenting several thousand validated citizen science reports for at least 40 species of gelatinous plankton since then, including almost ten new records for Maltese waters.
Within the interview, Prof. Deidun gives and overview of the main drivers of the jellyfish blooming phenomenon as well as of the salient environment and socio-economic management challenges posed to tourist destinations by such a hazard. The full article, which features photos by veteran photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi and by Prof. Deidun himself, can be read .
The initiative is supported financially by the International Ocean Institute (IOI), the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), Nature Trust, Friends of the Earth, SharkLab and the Ekoskola and the Blue Flag Malta programmes. The initiative follows a citizen science approach and relies on the collaboration of the public, sea farers, divers, and especially youngsters – through their teachers and parents – who are encouraged to assist in recording the presence and location of different jellyfish through the use of a reporting leaflet. The leaflet is being widely distributed, and can be downloaded from , which also contains snippets of information and anecdotes about different jellyfish species. With the support of MTA, large posters have also been put up on boards at major bays.
Reporting is done by simply matching the sighted jellyfish with a simple visual identification guide, giving the date and time of the sighting, and indicating the number of individuals seen. Sightings can be reported online, through an e-mail or by contacting Prof. Alan Deidun.
