'Monster' jellyfish hit coast

16th February 2010

THEY'RE big and they're wobbly - and these huge jellyfish that have been seen recently up and down the Coffs Coast could be an amazing scientific phenomenon.

One of hundreds of large jellyfish washing up on Coffs Coast beaches.

Bruce Thomas

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THEY’RE big, they’re wobbly and a little bit scary – and these huge jellyfish that have been seen recently up and down the Coffs Coast could be an amazing scientific phenomenon.

The jellies have been sighted from Boambee Beach in the south to Mullaway in the north and, according to jellyfish expert and curator of the Natural Sciences at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin, it’s an amazing find.

“This is not at all common,” she said.

“The first one was seen swimming off the shores of Cooktown in 1896 and it wasn’t seen again until 2000. For you to have so many of them in such a big area really is spectacular.”

It’s officially known as the ‘Cambione Cookii’ of the ‘Rhizostone’ family and not to worry – their sting isn’t said to be more harmful than a minor irritation.

“There really is little data on jellyfish; I haven’t a clue why they are there or why there are so many of them. I’d love to get a specimen.”