If you’re planning on swimming around Malta, forget about jellyfish for a moment because it appears that the new cause for concern is stinging snakes.

Marine biologist Alan Deidun recently warned people through a Facebook post about a colony of stinging cells that looks like a snake, known as a siphonophore.

While the sight is not unusual in Maltese waters from January to May, there has been an unusual increase in sightings of this species in local waters in recent days.

This is not a localized incident, as bays as far apart as Ċirkewwa and Mistra to Birżebbuġa and Marsaxlokk have reported sightings of these “snakes.” The species in question, Forskalia edwardsii, can grow up to a total length of 10 meters. Deidun shared several photos submitted by his community of citizen scientists called “Spot The Jellyfish,” including Maria Schembri, Andrew Zammit, Steven Brockwell, Stephen Bugeja, and Gabriel Bugelli.

Have you ever seen one of these sea creatures in the wild?