Velella velella jellyfish washed up in Mallorca

Thousands of jellyfish on Cala Millor beach. | X: Rosi Ballester

Andrew EdeSon Servera08/03/2025 09:52
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It is a not uncommon sight in Mallorca - a beach covered by thousands of jellyfish that have been carried by the wind and a turbulent sea. On Friday it was the turn of Cala Millor, where the beach was full of 'velella velella' jellyfish.

In Mallorca they are referred to as 'Barquetes de Sant Pere'. Saint Peter's sailboat jellyfish, a name for them in English is 'little sail'. This is because of what is like a little sail that catches the wind and which gives this species some similarity to the Portuguese man o' war, but only because of the sail. They are relatively harmless.

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This is a phenomenon that typically occurs in the spring, when there is plenty of plankton and numbers of the jellyfish grow exponentially.

In April last year, the beach at Cala Mandia in Manacor was covered by the jellyfish. In other recent years they have been washed up at Camp de Mar, on Cala Molins beach in Cala Sant Vicenç, and in Port Soller.