Boston Scuba

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata)

If you’ve been around the water you’ve probably seen this swarm of invaders floating around the sea surface. The Lion’s Mane jelly’s are common in spring and can be mesmerizing to watch, but like all wildlife give them space.

Until expeditions to the Arctic discovered individuals over 8ft wide, the largest recorded specimen was measured off the coast of Massachusetts in 1865 with a bell with a diameter of 6’10” /210 cm. Their 75-150 te****les can reach around 120ft/ 36.6 m long (note that this was before boats with propellers became commonplace!). That’s about 7m/22ft. longer than the largest recorded blue whale!

They show up in early spring here in Boston, you can see them close to the surface never getting much deeper tha 18m/60ft. They do sting, they’re not friendly like the comb jellies so hands to yourself, the stings won’t go through wetsuits or gear but any exposed skin is at risk of being stung, even by broken off te****le pieces floating in the water column.

They are beautiful to photography and an easy subject if you’re careful about the stingahzzz, they don’t hang around much longer in the season however so if you want to see them, now is the time… if you want to avoid them you don’t have much longer to wait.

Can’t wait to see you on the boat!!

Water is getting clear and there are big nudibranchs to see!!