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Moon Jellyfish

oh my god there is a jellyfish in the sea and its going to sting us…… go the cry of my children.  There were a number of Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia Aurita) on the beach and a few in the sea this year in Poppit.  So do they really sting ?

Aurelia aurita
Moon Jellyfish washed up at Poppit

I’ve done some reading and it appears that they can’t sting humans.  Well actually they can and do sting but their cnidoblasts aren’t  strong enough to penetrate skin tissues.  They can at worse leave a small skin rash.  So its safe to swim in the sea without having hat,gloves and wetsuits on.

Strangely people have been know to keep these as pets in aquariums, which I suppose makes an interesting talking point.  Harmless they may be but I’m still not sure I’m going to convince the kids of the fact.

 

They breed in October and can be found in all oceans of the world.