Impressive: Divers come across huge jellyfish in England
You'll have to agree that jellyfish are among the sea creatures that usually inspire a lot of fear in humans, right? So imagine diving quietly and crossing such an animal - only one as big as an adult human! For it was such a monstrosity that Lizzie Daly, a BBC biologist, and her team recently came across. Check out the following:
This is crazy! Divers swam with this massive barrel jellyfish off the coast of Cornwall.
- BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) July 15, 2019
It's the largest species of jellyfish found in British @Shark_ManDan pic.twitter.com/LjxvHS53aB
Colossal
The jellyfish above belongs to the Rhizostoma pulmo species and was spotted off the coast of Cornwall, England, during an event known as “Wild Ocean Week” in which a fundraising campaign for the UK Marine Conservation Organization is taking place. .
It is the largest specimen of this type of animal that can be found in the Mediterranean and in the waters that bathe the UK, and can reach up to 1 meter in diameter, not counting the 8 "arms" - which can extend for almost 2 meters long! In the case of the creature observed by Lizzie and BBC cameraman Dan Abbott, as you saw in the pictures, she was colossal and as big or bigger than the divers who approached her.
And you wondered if these guys were at risk swimming like this, so close to the jellyfish? In fact, although this species is endowed with cnidoblasts - that is, stinging cells - its attacks do not cause injury and it does not produce very irritating toxins and therefore, except for people with very sensitive skin, R. lungs do not usually pose much danger to humans. Anyway, these creatures are awesome and it's always wise to keep your distance!
