So the jellyfish is really 6" long, and the shot is way closeup, with the scary thing in the forefield, and the diver is really a 6' tall dude, 20m away?

The lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), also known as the giant jellyfish or the hair jelly,[1] is the largest known species of jellyfish. Its range is confined to cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans. It is common in the English Channel, Irish Sea, North Sea and in western Scandinavian waters south to Kattegat and Øresund. It may also drift in to the south-western part of the Baltic Sea (where it cannot breed due to the low salinity). Similar jellyfish, which may be the same species, are known to inhabit seas near Australia and New Zealand. The largest recorded specimen found, washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870, had a bell with a diameter of 2.3 metres (7 ft 6 in) and tentacles 37.0 m (121.4 ft) long.

Thank you very much...

Note to self; do not consider triathlons in Northern climes with ocean swims! Cold water is bad enough, but jelly fish big enough to make me an hors d'oeuvre is no water I want to swim in![/quote


What are your other choices warm water lakes with brain-eating amoebas I'll take my chances with the jellyfish

Fishbum wrote:

From Jordan's Wikipedia post:
"Its range is confined to cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans. It is common in the English Channel, Irish Sea, North Sea and in western Scandinavian waters south to Kattegat and Øresund. It may also drift in to the south-western part of the Baltic Sea"

So most Ironmans are OK by me, maybe not England or Wales, and definitely not Arctic waters. So, North America, South America, Asia, Southern Europe, etc. Just not cooooooooooooooooooooold water. BTW, the man who died at IM Texas did not succumb to a brain-eating amoeba ;-)

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DFL > DNF > DNS

That doesn't terrify me at all.

Firstly, and most obviously, it's big enough to see and avoid if that is your preference.

Secondly "Most encounters cause temporary pain and localized redness" sounds like a pretty mild risk, even compared to the kinds of jellyfish one might encounter on any day at any beach near me.

What scares the crap out of me is this little fellow, the irukandji:


It is tiny and translucent - virtually invisible. They are found in tropical waters in northern Australia, but with global warming they are moving further south each season.

Every survivor of their sting describes it as the worst pain they have known by massive margin. Apparently the pain comes in successive and increasing waves. Just when the victim thinks that it can't get any worse, it does. Again and again until unconsciousness or death.

The pain is accompanied by psychological effects, usually described as a feeling of dread or impending doom. Most survivors say they begged for death or would have welcomed it.

Many "unexplained" deaths by heart failure while swimming, including a couple this year, are thought to be undiagnosed irukandji stings.
I'd prefer your big, cuddly Cyanea capillata any day.