Are there any dangerous animals and insects in the sea or at the islands?

Norsk utgave (Norwegian edition)

This bee look alike I found at Naxos

The biggest pest in Greece is no doubt the mosquitoes.  Opposed to Norway where the mosquitoes are a pest outdoors, Greece has a type of mosquitoes that thrives indoors and is only active after dark.  This mosquito is found on all the islands, with local variations. Unfortunately there are quite a lot of them on Antiparos.  Just within the main beaches 1 and 2, there are swamplands that almost dries out in the summer, creating an ideal environment for mosquitoes.  Areas like these are found on several of the islands we have visited, for example on Naxos and Milos.  On both these islands, the airports are built on swamplands.

Relax, these are not mosquitoes, but just a few big locusts/grasshoppers. The green one was on Inge’s arm, at a tavern in the middle of Naxos town.  The brown one was sat on the doorframe in the bedroom in a house we rented in Mikri Vigla, Naxos.

Here is another unknown insect and a little butterfly from the same photo session.  I can assure you I have never seen this “beetle” or “bee” on the above photo neither before nor after this photo session. 

Ottar Evensen var her den/where here: 29/11-98 at 12:36

 Name: Aud S. Nordheim City and State: Trondheim
var her den/was here: 28/05-2001 at 15:12

Ends with a friendly picture shot in the mountains during a photo safari at Naxos

Snakes are present in Greece, but during our years of Island strolling, we haven’t seen one single snake. And we do hike a lot. I don’t know what kind of snakes that exist here, but the most dangerous has a poisonous bite that equals the Scandinavian viper called "hoggorm". But they are few and far between, since we have never run into anyone of them!

Remark by Algeir Rodahl: During my estimated 200 hours of hiking in the Cyclades, I have only once, on a Sifnos hillside, briefly encountered one single snake.  

Finally, on land, we would like to remind you that in Greece, you find cats nearly everywhere. Around the taverns they are particularly numerous. Those of you with cat intolerance, whether you being allergic or you just tend to dislike them; prepare to run into them everywhere!

There are no really dangerous animals. Sharks are supposed to occur in the Mediterranean, but we have never observed sharks around the Greek Islands. In fact, we have never heard of others seeing such species either.

Remark by Algeir Rodahl: Have seen one small basking(?) shark about 6 feet long, cut in pieces on a Loutra/Kitnos quay. Have done snorkelling around mantas/rays on one occasion, locals said they are capable of creating electric shocks if heavily provoked.

All in all there’s  not much fish around the Greek Islands. A friend of ours once joined some fishermen from Antiparos to watch them fish at night. They placed 3 km of fishing net just to catch small fish of the size we use for feeding the cat in Norway. But again here are also species that can be annoying. Like in Norway, one has to watch out for stinging jellyfish, even though there are fewer of them in Greece, and they are of a different kind.

Here the jellyfish is very small, transparent, 5-8 cm outside diameter, and 10-15 cm tall. It stands upright in the sea, and being transparent, they are hard to spot, especially while swimming. It is easier to catch sight of while snorkelling. Then you can see them just below the surface. Touching the jellyfish feels like a bite  or sting. It “burns” instantly and quite severely, causing a stinging rash. An aloe Vera cream/gel is handy to bring along to cool down and soften the pain, and it also has the same effect on burns from the sun. However, this jellyfish is not numerous. We don’t know if it exists all over Greece either, but we had a close encounter with it on Skiathos in august/September. It hasn’t been spotted earlier this summer.

Remark by Algeir Rodahl: Jellyfish tentacles may also occur, they often end up in areas with limited exchange of water. Kids can get burns from them playing in shallow water. This also calls for aloe Vera treatment. Don’t forget to bring it with you!

Sea urchins also occur frequently in Greece, but only in areas with rocks or sea plants, not on naked sandy beaches. When you go swimming in a rocky area, use beach sandals, and watch your steps carefully!

This comment on sea urchins from Kyrre Ingebrethsen, is copied from the guest book:

Ingebrethsen Kyrre var her den/was here: 11/12-98 at 13:33

Kommentar/Comments: Very nice site, I definitely began fancying going back again. I have a comment on sea urchins. They live on rocks all right, but when they perish they end up anywhere. While bathing on the beach below The Village on Ios my wife stepped on a dead sea urchin. Dead ones are actually  worse than those alive, because the quills get more fragile and break easily. The moral is always to wear beach sandals. (Wearing sandals is convenient due to the hot sand anyway)

Thank you for your comment!

Another contribution from the guest book to sea urchins and quill removal:

Name: Frode J. Fjerdingøy var her den: 15/02-2001 at 05:22  

Kommentar/Comments: A hint for the page: ”Are there any dangerous animals and insects…”  I am an eager snorkeler, an had a little accident on Folegandros. I had an unintentional encounter with a black sea urchin (well known from Norwegian waters, although not black) and got a lot of quills in my hand. The hand got swollen, and the quill tips are made to break and they dug in , causing some pain. I tried to remove them using a pair of tweezers, but some quills remained in the hand. While we were dining that evening, the innkeeper noticed my hand and instantly understood what I had been up to.  He called for his wife, who shortly afterwards knew what remedy to use. Cooking oil! I don’t know what brand it was, but it worked. The quills got out during the night. The innkeeper said these sea urchins were slightly poisonous, depending on their size. Smaller meant less venomous and vice versa. As I, according to the innkeeper, was receiving treatment at a very late stage, I still have some quills left inside my hand. But what is a holiday with no lasting memories? If anyone else gets unlucky – cooking oil is the very thing!!!

Thanks a lot for your contribution, Frode! Hopefully nobody will really need your advice!!

30. May 1998 I got this contribution to the guest book from Arne Ettestad:

Arne Ettestad vas here : 30/05-98 at 11:13

”Comment: Thank you for great information! Our family of five persons spent a week on Naxos after 17^th of May and used “islandstrolling pages” as our main travel guide. Great weather – lots of adventures. I have an important message for the page “Are there any dangerous…”. We visited Antiparos one day, and after a cave visit we went bathing on a beach just north of the harbour. Our eldest daughter, aged 15, sat on the beach playing with some local kids. Standing up afterwards, she felt a stinging pain on both legs, and she had burns covering much of her legs, increasing rapidly  in pain. The beach keeper instantly went to get an ointment that she applied, and it softened the pain. She showed us the cause of the burns: A size 10 cm sea anemone (or similar) growing on pebbles in a seaweed area on the waterside. It burns like stinging nettle and stinging jellyfish, that is only when in contact with thin skin – not when you for instance step on it. But our daughter’s burns were severe with wounds, and after a few days also showing a red reaction zone covering larger parts of her legs. We used itch softener on the wounds. Even now - 1,5 weeks afterwards the wounds are evident and a little irritated. The bottom line: Don’t sit in seaweeds on Greek Islands. This is potentially dangerous to smaller children!!”

Thank you for your contribution, Arne.

I want to bring a comment of my own here. A friend of ours has encountered same sort of sea anemone on the same beach. He got severe burns, but we never found out what caused it. The result is that we never enter the sea in rocky areas, only where there is just sand and no weed. With this precaution in mind, we have never since seen this anemone. This is very important when letting small children bathe in the sea, be careful choosing a place without rocks or pebbles carrying sea plants. This also applies to grownups, my friend is a big man, unfortunate to sit on rocks with innocent looking sea plants. To be completely honest we have only seen this anemone on Antiparos’ main beach 1. This beach is special with a quite large inner area consisting of rocks covered with a kind of sand, unfortunately being host to quite a lot of this sea anemone.

Here I have tried to take a picture of the sea anemones. Unfortunately not very good, but the pictures shows what the anemones look like, and how small they are, not much larger than the nail on my big toe. Their “arms” moves according to the sea current, and they are no more than 2 to 4 cm long.