title: A salp bloom (Tunicata, Thaliacea) along the Apulian coast and in the Otranto Channel between March-May 2013.
abstract: Between March-May 2013 a massive Salpa maxima bloom was recorded by a citizen science study along the Ionian and Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula (Italy). Citizen records were substantiated with field inspections along the coast and during an oceanographic campaign in the Otranto Channel. Salps clogged nets, impairing fishing activities along the coast. Swimmers were scared by the gelatinous appearance of the salps, and thought they were jellyfish. At the end of the bloom the dead bodies of the colonies, that were up to 6-7 m long, were accumulated along the coast and stirred by the waves, forming foams along dozens of kilometers of coast. The bloom also occurred at the Tremiti Islands, north of the Gargano Peninsula. The possible impacts of such events on the  functioning of pelagic systems are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy ; National Research Council, Institute of Marine Sciences, 16149 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boero
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Genuario
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bracale
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraschetti
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piraino
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zampardi