A free diver has said he “couldn’t believe his luck” after spotting a giant jellyfish off the Welsh coastline. Iestyn Morgan, from Pembrokeshire, said the lion’s mane was the “length of a bus” with a size of about 10 to 15 meters, according to BBC. The 21-year-old conservationist, who records footage for social media to raise awareness about the “threat our seas are facing,” said it was the first lion’s mane he had seen in Wales. More commonly found in the colder waters off Scotland, a marine biologist said although the lion’s mane sting was “nasty,” it was not dangerous. Morgan said he was swimming near Trefin Beach in Pembrokeshire when he spotted the tentacles in the water. “Three turned to 10, and then to 20. They just kept on coming,” he added. The jellyfish was so big the tentacles went “beyond the range of visibility.” He initially thought it was a compass jellyfish, which are native to UK waters, before realizing it was too big. “It must have been the length of a bus or small train. I couldn't believe how big it was.” The Wildlife Trusts said the lion's mane jellyfish gets its name from its long tentacles, and has “all the beauty and bite of a lion.” They can grow up to 3 meters in length, but the tentacles - which are used to catch their prey - can exceed 30 to 36.5 meters making it one of the longest animals on Earth. Marine biologist Dr. Cathy Lucas, from the University of Southampton, said Morgan’s video showed the animal’s incredible length. “The tentacles are so long and so fine you might not even see them,” she said, recalling how during field work in Scotland divers would get bits of tentacles on them when there were no jellyfish around. “They still sting after they break off,” she said, adding that while the sting was “nasty” and “the worst in the UK,” it was not dangerous.
