Yesterday (27th July 2014) I walked along Rhossili beach from one end to the other and back again – a distance of about 10 kilometres. I followed the high tide strand line most of the way and saw 16 large Barrel Jellyfish, also known as Dustbin-lid and Root-mouthed Jellyfish (Rhizostoma octopus Linnaeus) – but there could have been more. They were various sizes and states of maturity. I put a seashell beside each one I photographed to give an idea of scale. They were different shades of pink and blue colour. Their condition varied, too. Some were freshly dead and well preserved but others had been split or torn, and some were beginning to decompose by “melting” into the sand. They were lying at different angles. Some were dome upwards and others were upside down. All are harmless – no danger from stings to holiday makers. They are a relatively common sight on beaches of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. However, they have been appearing in very large numbers along the Coast of Devon and Cornwall this summer, which is an unusual occurrence, and there has been a lot of coverage of the phenomenon in the media. There are more posts about Barrel or Dustbin-lid Jellyfish elsewhere in Jessica’s Nature Blog from sightings in previous years on Gower.
COPYRIGHT JESSICA WINDER 2014
All Rights Reserved
Jessica's Nature Blog 
Haven’t seen anything like those around our coast Jessica, although I have seen some species new to me in recent weeks. Well captured – can be difficult to photograph.
LikeLike
There seem to be a lot of jellyfish around this year but they probably haven’t migrated as far up as your coastline yet – I think they travel on the Gulf Stream to quite northerly latitudes – followed by the Leatherback Turtles that like to feed on them.
LikeLike
The turtles would be an impressive sight. There used to one preserved in Donegal when I was a child. Its body had washed up on the shore, and it was in a little museum of sorts at the back of someone’s house. Gone now sadly.
LikeLike