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Holly Williams for Art-Sheep

Watching those horror movies with giant sea creatures attacking clueless swimming tourists, one cannot help feeling a little relieved that such legendary leviathans seem to inhabit only writers’ imagination or, at the worst case, the depths of far off, exotic places on the other side of the world. Recently, however, just off the coast of Britain there have been sightings of giant jellyfish in massive swarms. Measuring up to 5 feet in length, these Barrel Jellyfish, have been appearing in numbers of thousands, though it is usually a very rare phenomenon for them to be seen so close to the coast.

Despite their frightening appearance, these jellyfish are actually harmless, feeding on tiny plankton and having a sting that can cause nothing but a rash. Steve Trewhella, photographer and diver, after seeing their large groups, while on a dive boat with his grandson, proceeded to get into the water and swim with them, thus providing us with all these amazing pictures.

via mymodernmet

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