Thousands of small, freshwater jellyfish have been seen in the water reservoir Teplý Vrch near Rimavská Sobota, in Banská Bystrica Region. The dam contains the warmest water in Slovakia.
They can be easily spotted in the morning or in the evening, and they have become very popular among visitors.
This is the third year that the Slovak Water Management Company registered the presence of Craspedacusta sowerbii or peach blossom jellyfish, originally from China, in the reservoir, its spokesperson Marián Bocák told the MY Novohrad regional newspaper.
“This type of jellyfish was spotted in Slovakia for the first time in the 1960s in dead branches of the Danube in Gabčíkovo and later in the protected area Štiavnické Vrchy about 30 years ago,” Bocák said, as quoted by MY Novohrad, adding that this type of freshwater jellyfish is not harmful and it does not produce any toxic substances. “It even serves as a small cleaning plant because it eats the plankton.”
This type of jellyfish is really not dangerous and people have no reason to be afraid of it, according to Denisa Čonková from the Regional Public Health Authority in Rimavská Sobota.