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Divers Meet ‘Giant’ Jellyfish Off Cornwall

17th July 2019
The massive barrel jellyfish encountered off the Cornwall coast on Saturday The massive barrel jellyfish encountered off the Cornwall coast on Saturday Credit: LizzieRDaly/Twitter

Divers off the coast of Cornwall captured the remarkable moment when they encountered a ‘giant’ jellyfish the size of a human being.

As the Irish News reports, biologist Lizzie Daly and wildlife cameraman Dan Abbott were filing for the UK’s Wild Ocean Week at the weekend when they came across the barrel jellyfish.

While not rare for a marine wildlife species, Daly says they are more usually “dustbin lid sized” than the enormous specimens Daly and Abbott shared on social media.

Elsewhere, and going from large to little, TheJournal.ie reports on a potentially lethal encounter an Irishman had with a tiny octopus in Australia.

Tourist John Paul Lennon had been led to believe the minuscule cephalopod he put on his bare arm in the water at Bunaberg, north of Brisbane, was harmless.

But it was actually a blue-ringed octopus, a highly venomous creature whose sting can cause total paralysis.

“It’s been on my mind constantly thinking what could have happened,” he said. “It’s just lucky I didn’t keep it on my arm for the photo.”

Published in Marine Wildlife
MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!