Wishing jellyfish away because they are seen as a nuisance is a mindset Haberlin would like people to move away from. <\/p>\n
Some of the footage recorded and posted online<\/a> in recent days can be startling, with large congregations, or \u201csmacks\u201d, of jellyfish close to shore in Co Waterford<\/a> and east Cork in particular, but also in Kerry and Louth. <\/p>\n Brendan Cosgrave from Waterford took a moment to press record after he and a friend glided into a huge group of jellyfish while kayaking near Helvick Head in Co Waterford last Sunday morning. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d often be out on the water and you\u2019d see a couple floating about but I never saw anything here like what I witnessed last Sunday,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI kind of knew they were harmless common jellyfish but still, I wouldn\u2019t have jumped in the water with them, there were so many. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd as we moved on, we saw other kinds \u2013 some with really long tentacles that I wouldn\u2019t be so sure of.\u201d<\/p>\n Hundreds of jellyfish surround kayakers off Waterford coast. Video: Brendan Cosgrave\/Eoin McGarry. Editor: Eoin Ronayne <\/p>\n David O\u2019Neill from Tramore had an even closer encounter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt got me in the armpit,\u201d he says of the unidentified jellyfish he swam into during a sunset dip at Newtown Cove last Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a sensitive place so it\u2019s been sore and inflamed but you just have to let it work through. I\u2019ve been putting Sudocrem on it which helps.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t see it but I know it wasn\u2019t a moon jellyfish because their sting is just like a nettle. I swim year-round and have been stung a few times like that but nothing like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Moon jelly or common jellyfish have been most dominant, their rounded, blobby shape typifying how most people perceive jellyfish.<\/p>\n They\u2019re harmless to people and, sadly, Haberlin says, most will be dead soon. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople often think that because there\u2019s a lot of them, it\u2019s some sort of abnormality or that it\u2019s caused by the heat but that\u2019s not the case,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Jellyfish make swimmers\u2019 lives a misery but how important are they to the ocean?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s usually a convergence of wind and tide that drives them close to shore after they\u2019ve spawned. They have a brief life so once they\u2019ve spawned, they\u2019ll die off.\u201d<\/p>\n There is much inter-annual variation in the numbers \u2013 some years bring far more than others. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd there are exceptional years when you see very large congregations. But this isn\u2019t a sign of anything being out of balance. It\u2019s just how jellyfish are,\u201d Haberlin explains. <\/p>\n \u201cThe number of jellyfish reported can also be a result of the number of eyes and phones around, and in this weather, more people are in the water.\u201d <\/p>\n By coincidence, 150 jellyfish experts from around the world gathered in Cork for a conference last week. Part of the social programme arranged for the visitors was a boat trip to see varieties common in Ireland\u2019s southerly waters this time of year. <\/p>\n The moon jelly, the more elaborate compass jellyfish that can sting, and the brilliantly coloured blue jellyfish are all abundant in the area at the moment. <\/p>\n Jellyfish that can give a nasty sting, such as the long tentacled lion\u2019s mane<\/a>, like colder waters so they are more often found up the east coast, but so far, they have been keeping their distance. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/G6CEQQPS3ZDOXENTYBRPJVDH6U.jpg\")
A compass jellyfish in Barry’s Cove, Co Cork. Photograph: Shazia Waheed <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4JDACUCQ7ZM2TDR7C4UF6EMAE4.jpg\")
A lion\u2019s mane jellyfish. Photograph: Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EUPVBRQAHTAH42MINCNOX2GVQI.jpg\")
The Portuguese man o’ war. Photograph: The Marine Conservation Society\/Joanna Clegg\/PA <\/p>\n