Jellyfish are made up of 98% water. They are the largest planktonic animals in the world.
Today’s photo shows a blue jellyfish (Cyanea lamarckii) on the North Sea beach of Vlieland. The blue jellyfish is a marine animal and a graceful swimmer that lives between Scandinavia and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Blue jellyfish swim freely in open water, and their umbrella-shaped body, the bell, reaches a diameter of about 20 cm.
The blue jellyfish is colorless when young and develops a striking blue bell as it matures. The tentacles of the blue jellyfish are covered with thousands of stinging cells, which they use to paralyze their prey, mostly plankton. The blue jellyfish is relatively harmless for humans but touching it can be unpleasant. The venom can cause skin redness, swelling, or painful rashes. Even specimens lying on the beach should not be touched but only viewed from a distance.