Country diary: huge jellyfish shipwrecked on the sands

Morfa Harlech, Gwynedd They have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfall The wave smudges out something written in the sand with a stick. I imagine it as a spell cast to charm ashore those lost at sea. And so it does, as tides ebb and flow, stranding the barrel jellyfish. These extraordinary creatures, also known as dustbin-lid jellyfish because of their size and shape, have been shipwrecked after an epic voyage.Rhizostoma pulmo or R octopus is the largest jelly