Tunisia · Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Why Tunisia's beaches are full of jellyfish this summer
The word méduse is among what Tunisians are searching most on Google right now, in the middle of the beach season. According to La Presse, this is no new invasion but Rhizostoma pulmo, a species long present in Tunisian waters whose gatherings in the Gulf of Gabes were documented in a study built on 17 years of data. Environment and climate engineer Hamdi Hached points to a Mediterranean that in early August ran locally up to eight degrees above seasonal norms, to nutrient pollution from wastewater, and to fishing having removed many of the jellyfish's predators, while winds and currents pile the animals up along the shore.