It's that time of year when fascinating and sometimes dangerous creatures start to invade our shores. But what should you do if you spot a stranded jellyfish and can they still sting you when they are dead? Here we have the answers to all your burning questions as Frankie Hobro, director of in North Wales explains..
. Love them or hate them, jellyfish are intriguing creatures that fulfil an essential role in the oceanic food web. They rely entirely on currents to carry them around so they generally appear in large numbers.
But with so many benign species being easily mistaken for the more nasty ones, and vice versa, the golden rule is always look but don’t touch. Whilst in the water you should also keep your distance – the tentacles often drift a long way behind the main body of the animal, which is what makes them such effective predators. The harmless By-The-Wind-Sailors bear a great similarity to their much maligned and much larger relative the Portuguese Man O’ War.
Both have a float above the surface with a striking bluish purple ‘sail’ to catch the wind. Most impressive in size among our common species are lionsmane and barrel jellyfish, both of which frequently grow to the size of a dustbin lid or larger and are a staple food for our native leatherback turtles. The barrel jellyfish is harmless to humans but is still a formidable sight, a dense white mass with short tentacles which often grow to the size of a barrel, hence their name.
Similarly the lionsmane je.
