Warning Issued: Venomous 5-Foot-Wide Jelly Fish on Maine's Shore

Nervous ocean swimmers are not feeling more confident about New England beaches after this week. And it makes sense. First you have two 30 foot sharks circling the Isle of the Shoals, on the Maine and New Hampshire border, only six miles off the coast...

This week it is a jellyfish...and not any regular jellyfish. A five foot WIDE jellyfish that is also venomous. And reading "five foot wide" probably does not register...so imagine yourself lading down.

That is how big the jellyfish is wide. That is not even considering the long tentacles attached to the five foot wide base.

Are There Jellyfish in New England

The five foot wide jellyfish was spotted at Willard Beach in South Portland, Maine. Because of it's size, it was easy to identify the species as a Lions Mane - the largest type of jellyfish in the world with tentacles as long as 100 feet.

It is called a Lion's Mane because the tentacles and color of them resembles that of a lion's mane. Fortunately, the ones found in New England's waters only have tentacles reaching 20 to 30 feet.

According to a WMTW article, there have been other sightings of more Lion's Mane Jellies in the water. Although they do not pose a serious threat to humans, as Lion's Mane Jellyfish are not poisonous, they ARE in fact venomous.

A sting from a Lion's Mane can be very painful and may cause an allergic reaction in some people.

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Gallery Credit: Chris Sedenka