jellyfish off N.east scotland any ideas what it is

[pictish]

any ideas dont think their common around here but very rare to see them swimming by the rocks and not splatted on the beach. This year has been strange indeed, all the wading birds have not turned up, new swan family in the small river the normal ones not returned, another pair of herons moved in and the seal population has exploded.

[tom00_uk]

not rare, and becoming more common every year

last summer i was sailing through large numbers of them in the north sea

and catching a tonne or two at a time in the nets

[pictish]

think its a lion mane as found some pics they do look so much diff after a few hours on the sand

[zan]

Definately a lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) - the bright red-orange colour is the giveaway. There's a similar species that is blue (Cyanea lamarkii) that we also get around the UK.

Both these jellies have a fairly painful sting though (like a bad nettle sting), so don't pick them up if you find them on a beach!

[jdoherty]

Yes I would agree with Lion's mane jellyfish.

Here's a pic of one I took a while back.

John