It’s the time of year when Auckland area sea swimmers share the water with jellyfish 🪼. This one washed up on the beach for whatever reason.

We normally see these pink-purple ones floating a few feet below us. They range in size from baseball to basketball, occasionally a little bigger. We call them lion’s mane jellyfish, although Wikipedia (my bio professor) is ambivalent about whether it’s the same species as in the northern hemisphere.

They’re quite beautiful to look at, drifting lazily along, although when you’re swimming and suddenly one pops into view it’s always startling. You don’t want to get too close!

The sting, which I’ve only experienced in a small way, is more tingly than painful. Last week one of our swimmers plowed right into one and got red welts all over his arms and body. But he was fine to finish the swim, and after a hot shower he was ready to join the post-swim breakfast as normal.

We also sometimes see Portuguese Man o’ War, aka bluebottle, jellies, and apparently their sting is much worse. I’ve seen more of them washed up than in the water… don’t know why.