To find out if there are jellyfish sightings in your local area, visit the Marine Conservation Society. They have a jellyfish watch so people can report their sightings and a map with recent sightings on. Jellyfish in Cornish Waters Centre for Environmental Data and Recording, 2018. Ulster Museum Marine Surveys of Northern Ireland Coastal Waters. Occurrence dataset https://www.nmni.com/CEDaR/CEDaR-Centre-for-Environmental-Data-and-Recording.aspx accessed via NBNAtlas.org on 2018-09-25. We think that jellyfish stay actively in a particular area. Whether there is some movement locally, for example from the south to the north coast of Cornwall, we are unsure. It’s unlikely they cover long distances on a big scale, other than if they’re transported via a storm, however we can’t be certain. There are differences genetically between species from various parts of the world, which lends towards this hypothesis.” (VH) Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service., 2017. Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS) Dataset. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/ab4vwo accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-10-02. National Trust, 2017. National Trust Species Records. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/opc6g1 accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-10-01.

Cofnod – North Wales Environmental Information Service, 2018. Miscellaneous records held on the Cofnod database. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/hcgqsi accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-09-25. We don’t really know how long they live for or whether they can survive over a winter. We have heard anecdotally of fishermen pulling jellyfish up from deeper waters during trawls in February so suspect they enter into some sort of rested state over the winter, but at this point we don’t really know. This would also be different for various species.” (VH)

Portuguese man o' war (physalia physalis)

Jellyfish stinging cells are like a harpoon. When they’re triggered the harpoon fires out and administers the toxins. On the first touch only about a third of them will fire, so even when tumbled through the surf some but not all may be activated. This means that even if they’re washed up dead they can still sting, though it is likely to be less severe. Mainly the stinging cells are found on the tentacles, but with barrel jellyfish there are stinging cells on the mucus as well. The top of the bell is generally fine and it’s rare that humans can feel their sting, but I still wouldn’t recommend touching them at all.” (VH) The only species to be concerned about as a swimmer is the Portuguese Man o War. These are in a different group to the ones outlined above and can produce quite severe reactions in humans, they can have very long tentacles extending out from the float and main body. These occur in small numbers most years and usually in the autumn. However in some years they are extremely abundant.” (SB)

Fife Nature Records Centre, 2018. St Andrews BioBlitz 2015. Occurrence dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/xtrbvy accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-09-27.It’s difficult to know whether we are seeing more or less jellyfish today because people can report them more now. Generally the numbers wax and wane from year to year. It is normal for jellyfish numbers to peak during summer and autumn which is why we’re seeing lots of them at the moment.” (VH)