In the Channel south of England a giant jellyfish of almost two meters long is swimming. Divers found the animal in the sea at Falmouth near Cornwall.
The biologists who saw the animal can hardly believe their eyes. “I’ve never seen such a big jellyfish,” biologist Lizzie Daly tells the Guardian. It is about barrel jellyfish, what we call cauliflower jellyfish in the Netherlands.
The newspaper has put a video of the special creature on YouTube.
Images of the enormous cauliflower jellyfish
Lizzie Daly thought swimming along the ‘soft giant’ was a great experience. “We first saw a few smaller jellyfish on a beautiful reef and then this huge, beautiful jellyfish came out of the darkness. You really have to look twice to realize that it really is a meter and a half.”
Late summer
Every year in the months of May and June thousands of jellyfish migrate along the British coast in search of warmer coastal waters. Due to the late summer this year, jellyfish are still rising in the region around Cornwall.
Lizzy Daly spotted the giant jellyfish together with Dan Abbott, who was making a film for the Wild Ocean Week.
The duo observed the special animal for about an hour. The cauliflower jelly is harmless to people, Daly says. They give very mild injections that you hardly feel. The cauliflower jelly has no tentacles.