{"id":324765,"date":"2025-10-22T21:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/324765\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:05:10","slug":"diver-films-worlds-largest-jellyfish-species-at-night-and-the-video-is-hypnotizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/324765\/","title":{"rendered":"Diver Films World\u2019s Largest Jellyfish Species at Night, and the Video Is Hypnotizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

An underwater videographer has just published mesmerizing footage of the world\u2019s largest<\/a>, longest<\/a>, and heaviest<\/a> known jellyfish species\u2014a lion\u2019s mane jelly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral minutes into the dive, I noticed a long, thin tentacle trailing overhead, stretching far beyond my vision,\u201d John Roney wrote in a social media post<\/a>. \u201cI followed it through the darkness for over a minute before coming upon a giant Lion\u2019s Mane Jellyfish.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, he spotted its tentacle <\/p>\n

Imagine how long that tentacle must have been if it took Roney that long to trace it back to its owner. The video captures the giant jelly\u2019s pale, translucent bell flowing like a tablecloth over a mass of orange and purple with the peaceful sound of water in the background. Some close-up shots highlight the hypnotizing details of its tentacles.<\/p>\n

Roney captured the footage after sunset while diving with a fellow underwater videographer in the Salish Sea<\/a>, an inland sea on North America\u2019s west coast connected to the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese incredible creatures can reach unbelievable sizes\u2014the largest recorded had a bell with a diameter of 7 feet (2.1 meters) and tentacles extending up to 120 feet (36.6 meters). They use their stinging tentacles to ensnare, pull in, and eat prey such as fish, zooplankton, and other jellyfish,\u201d Roney added. \u201cThey also have these deep, vibrant orange, purple and crimson colours that I love to film. But fair warning\u2014this is a jellyfish you definitely don\u2019t want to touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moderately painful <\/p>\n

According to the Virginia Institute<\/a> of Marine Science, the lion\u2019s mane jelly\u2019s sting is moderately painful. Nevertheless, it has likely haunted some people\u2019s imaginations since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featured the creature as a mysterious murderer in his short story, \u201cThe Adventure of the Lion\u2019s Mane.\u201d<\/p>\n

While beautiful, the jellyfish\u2019s extreme size could be misinterpreted as the stuff of nightmares. The largest known specimen is 120 feet (36.5 meters) long, according to the Smithsonian Museum<\/a> of Natural History. And while it\u2019s difficult to get an exact weight measurement (good luck placing one on a scale), the Guinness<\/a> World Record reports an estimated maximum weight of over 1 tonne, given its body size, volume, and total tentacle mass.<\/p>\n

Best rest assured\u2014most lion\u2019s mane jellyfish are usually spotted far from the coast. Still, I\u2019d rather have a run-in with a lion\u2019s mane jellyfish than the smaller Australian box jellyfish<\/a>, the world\u2019s most venomous marine animal (of course it\u2019s in Australia). And speaking of venomous animals, have you heard that some mamba bites are even worse than we thought<\/a>?<\/p>\n