![\"Researchers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/jellyfish-sting-cape-cod.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA researcher is trying to solve a marine mystery in the waters off Cape Cod \u2014 why a particular jellyfish, not known for stinging people, has been stinging swimmers in recent years.<\/p>\n
Using protective gloves, Nicole Corbett shows the mystery she is trying to get to the bottom of in the waters off Mashpee. <\/p>\n
“This is the one we are trying to figure out,” she said as she moved the moon jellyfish onto the dock and measured it to be more than 12 inches wide.<\/p>\n
It’s not typically responsible for stinging beachgoers. “The sting cells in moon jellies are too weak to penetrate human skin,” explained Corbett, who leads the Popponesset Water Stewardship Alliance. <\/p>\n
She is gathering jellyfish samples with the Barnstable Clean Water Coalition for genetic testing, “trying to get to the bottom of, why does this moon jelly sting in this area of Cape Cod, but we are not getting stinging to jellies elsewhere.” <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tNBC10 Boston<\/p>\n
\t\t\tNBC10 Boston<\/p>\n
Researchers handling a moon jellyfish. They’re working to discover why the species has started stinging people in Mashpee, on Cape Cod.<\/p>\n
There is one working theory being investigated.<\/p>\n
“They have developed some sort of adaptation to this area where stinging is beneficial to them or this came in from somewhere else,” Corbett explained.<\/p>\n
She said this species is also stinging without contact: <\/p>\n
“They have a mucous coating on them and we think that is coming off in the water,” Corbett said. “And it’s stinging people, and you don’t even have to be in contact with it.”<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe city is advising people to keep an eye out for large, stinging jellyfish that have been spotted recently.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Corbett is also working on a solution for swimmers who get stung, a pilot program offering jellyfish sting kits on private beaches that provide instant relief. The kits have a spray that helps neutralize the sting and a cream with copper sulfite ingredient. <\/p>\n
“The copper acts as a biocide, so its intention is to kill the remaining stinging cells that latched on to your skin,” Corbett explained.<\/p>\n
The kits are only on private beaches right now, but she is working to expand to public beaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A researcher is trying to solve a marine mystery in the waters off Cape Cod \u2014 why a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[5830,15773,13369,2001,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-77828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals-and-wildlife","9":"tag-atlantic-ocean","10":"tag-cape-cod","11":"tag-massachusetts","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}