They’re gonna need a bigger beach.
A massive jellyfish with tentacles stretching more than 100 feet washed ashore a Maine beach last weekend — with swimmers and beachgoers warned to keep their distance from the stinging sea creature.
The nearly five-foot-wide lion’s mane jellyfish — one of the largest jelly species in the world — was spotted prowling the waters at Willard Beach in South Portland, the city announced on Facebook.
“Don’t touch it! They sting,” officials warned Monday, sharing a photo of the blood-red, bell-shaped predator, with its long, hair-like tentacles floating just beneath the surface.
“Observe it. They’re so interesting to watch, and pretty too. If you see one washed up at Willard Beach, notify a lifeguard and they will help it back into the water with a shovel.”
The swimming drifter — with tentacles up to 120 feet long — is typically found in colder waters, ranging from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Alaska and Washington, according to Oceana.
Named for its thick, tendrilled “mane,” the marine animal has up to 1,200 tentacles divided into eight clusters, each capable of delivering a powerful sting to anything and anyone that brushes against them.
“They would hurt,” Dr. Jerome Piniti, a scientist at the Gulf of Main Research Institute in Portland, told WMTW of getting stung by the lion’s mane.
“They would burn. But in general, it’s not dangerous unless you are allergic to it. If you get stung, you should try to remove the tentacles using sand or using salt water.”
Other symptoms may include skin irritation, burning, swelling, and in more severe cases, nausea, confusion, dizziness, difficulty breathing, muscle pain, and even heart complications, experts said.
Despite the jellyfish’s eerie appearance, social media users flocked to the viral post to comment on the enormous ocean dweller.
“The design in the middle is very pretty, but I thought it was a giant blood clot,” one user wrote on Facebook, as others compared it to “Trump’s hairpiece!” or their “mother in law.”
“Thought at first someone had flung their bbq ribs into the water,” one person commented.
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