The Government says that it has prepared Gibraltar’s public beaches to be as safe as physically possible, with the deployment of the jellyfish nets representing an important part of the operation, especially since these, now prominent features at bathing areas, were not present last year due to the Covid- 19 Pandemic restrictions in place.

A statement continued: “Nature however, having taken its ever unpredictable course of action, has this year caused the seabed and beach contours to change both at Eastern Beach and Catalan Bay, with significant shifting of sand and deposits on the seabed creating prominent sandbanks. These natural alterations of the environment at these two beaches have caused the area of sea where the nets are located to be much shallower than in previous years, with the nets, once deployed, offering appreciably less resistance than required to sustain the onslaught of heavy swells and severe wave action, especially in strong easterly conditions.

“Despite Government’s firm intention to provide jellyfish nets at all public beaches, and continuous efforts to have these reset after having them displaced by inclement weather, should the current situation prove these to represent more a danger than a safety measure, the possible removal of these from Catalan Bay and Eastern Beach for the remainder of the Official Bathing Season will inevitably need to be considered.”