Hey, it turns out climate change isn’t all bad news! I mean, sure, the good news isn’t exactly universal, but if you’re, say, British, love subtropical jellyfish, and are afraid of saltwater — or on the flip side, if you’re a subtropical jellyfish who’s always dreamed of visiting the ancestral homeland of Welsh crooner Tom Jones — then you, sir, madame, or genderless gelatinous blob of mesoglea, have hit the climate change jackpot!
The Mirror reports that divers off the coast of Cornwall, U.K., have been inundated with enormous, Mediterranean barrel jellyfish. The beasties are not an uncommon visitor to the waters off of England’s southern coasts, and they are harmless to humans. Nonetheless, the numbers and the sheer size of these jellies is an eye opener. And now, according to the Western Morning News, the cthuloid creatures are no longer content to simply migrate north and menace the coasts.
A monster barrel jellyfish has been spotted for the first time floating along — a British river.
The giant creature measuring around 4ft from head to tentacle was seen drifting along Cornwall’s Helford River.
Several of the massive creatures have been found washed up on UK beaches in recent weeks but the latest invader was seen half a mile inland.
Barrel jellyfish are usually found in more tropical areas such as the Mediterranean sea.
Of course jellyfish are just the tip of the, erm, non-iceberg. Climate change is dramatically altering the North Sea and warming waters globally are spurring the largest movement of ocean species in 2 million years.
Of course there is another upside to all of this climate change. Trip Advisor currently lists only 822 things to do in Cornwall, but now, thanks to our oozy overlords, it’s time to push that number to 824:
No. 823: Go to the river and look at enormous, invading harbingers of our doom.
No. 824: Clog powerplants!
