Sea Fisheries adviser Simon Bossy said that recent checks had shown no new clusters of dead lugworms, and that even in the worst hit areas, such as St Aubin’s Bay, they had not been completely wiped out.’Like all beach fauna, lugworms are an important part of the biodiversity of the beach.
They should recolonise quite quickly,’ he said.Despite summer bringing with it the appearance of weever fish, which have spines with a poisonous sting, the department have received no reports so far of anyone being affected after standing on them in the sand.Dr Bossy said that if anyone did suffer what could be a painful sting, the best way to deal with it was to immerse their foot in a bath of fairly hot water and then gradually bring the temperature up by adding more hot water.’You only have to leave your foot in the water for three to four minutes before the heat denatures the poison,’ he said.
Anyone with further concerns should seek medical advice.On a more positive note, warm waters usually attract sunfish to our shores.
The department were contacted yesterday by a man who reported seeing a sunfish in waters at Grève de Lecq which was around 20 lb in weight and 2 ft in diameter.
