A spider crab, safely returned to the sea once our passengers have had a good look

All our lobster pot creatures are safely returned to the sea once our passengers have had a good look at them.

As small spider crab with lots of camouflage

They can grow up to 20cm from the front of their shell (or carapace) to the back!

Some are a vibrant orange colour, although often their shells are covered with sea weeds, sponges, hyroids, and other organisms which help to camouflage them.

A large common spider crab found in our lobster pot

Spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla) are often found around our shores in spring and summer, and are regularly pulled up in our lobster pot.

A swarm of octopus jellyfish at Worms Head, Gower

Often, a bit later in the year usually, we see huge swarms of hundreds of these jellyfish around Worms Head. It is thought that they spend the winter in much deeper waters and move to the shallows in late spring when the longer, warmer days allow the plankton to bloom.

They're a great sight to see, and really mesmerising to watch.

You really get to see how big these jellies are when viewed up close

The leatherback turtle, the largest turtle in the world, comes to welsh waters to eat these jellyfish!
They have to eat a lot of them as jellyfish are around 90% water. Jellies don't have a brain, a heart, or blood, and move with a pulsating motion operated by a simple net of nerves. 

Another octopus jelly seen from our boat

If you came across one of these beasts in the water you might, understandably, be a bit wary. But despite their size these jellies feed entirely on plankton so their sting is harmless to humans. It is very mild, so most of the time you probably wouldn't even feel it, and they certainly aren't dangerous.

A big octopus jellyfish, also known as a barrel jellyfish or dustbin-lid jellyfish

Octopus jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) are also commonly referred to as barrel jellyfish or dustbin-lid jellyfish due to their large size, and are found in the north-east of the Atlantic ocean. They are the largest jellyfish in British waters. These beautiful creatures measure, on average, 40cm across but can reach 90cm!

We've had a few 'firsts' for the 2018 season recently!

Our first octopus jellyfish of the year was seen on a trip a few weeks ago in mid May, and our passengers loved seeing our first spider crab from our lobster pot several days later.