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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Country diary: huge jellyfish shipwrecked on the sands | Country diary: huge jellyfish shipwrecked on the sands |
| (30 days later) | |
| Morfa Harlech, Gwynedd They have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfall | Morfa Harlech, Gwynedd They have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfall |
| Paul Evans | Paul Evans |
| Wed 4 Oct 2017 05.30 BST | Wed 4 Oct 2017 05.30 BST |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 17.04 GMT | |
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| 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. | 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 jellyfish in British waters (they can grow to nearly 90cm in diameter) and is harvested around Wales for high-value medical-grade collagen. It feeds on plankton and its sting does not injure humans any more than do nettles; it is fed upon by leatherback turtles and sunfish. | Rhizostoma pulmo or R octopus is the largest jellyfish in British waters (they can grow to nearly 90cm in diameter) and is harvested around Wales for high-value medical-grade collagen. It feeds on plankton and its sting does not injure humans any more than do nettles; it is fed upon by leatherback turtles and sunfish. |
| Jellyfish are boneless, brainless and heartless, and have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfall with the same kind of trusting faith as the dark age mystics who set themselves adrift seeking divine grace. | Jellyfish are boneless, brainless and heartless, and have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfall with the same kind of trusting faith as the dark age mystics who set themselves adrift seeking divine grace. |
| There are many washed up on this beach – some upside down, showing frilly translucent pantaloons of tentacles; others the right way up, looking like in-vitro flowers on Victorian graves; others half-folded, resigned to this contortion without struggle. | There are many washed up on this beach – some upside down, showing frilly translucent pantaloons of tentacles; others the right way up, looking like in-vitro flowers on Victorian graves; others half-folded, resigned to this contortion without struggle. |
| Beach walkers seem unimpressed with the jellyfish, repulsed even, as if these creatures were worse than the plastic flotsam and jetsam that sullies the pristine beach. A juvenile gull with an imploring whistle, and its immaculate pirate-eyed parent, dance for crumbs around a pink flipflop on the dune’s edge. | Beach walkers seem unimpressed with the jellyfish, repulsed even, as if these creatures were worse than the plastic flotsam and jetsam that sullies the pristine beach. A juvenile gull with an imploring whistle, and its immaculate pirate-eyed parent, dance for crumbs around a pink flipflop on the dune’s edge. |
| There is a log to perch on eating sarnies, with a view beyond the surf of black ducks in rafts of 20 or 30, separated by a hundred metres or so. These are scoter, Melanitta nigra, perhaps hundreds of them on the north end of Cardigan Bay towards the Llyn peninsula. | There is a log to perch on eating sarnies, with a view beyond the surf of black ducks in rafts of 20 or 30, separated by a hundred metres or so. These are scoter, Melanitta nigra, perhaps hundreds of them on the north end of Cardigan Bay towards the Llyn peninsula. |
| These ducks are almost invisible, almost silent lurching in the lumpy water, pelagic pilgrims of the storm abandoned to its surge and yet free. The scoter whistle their chants at sea. Around them are more barrel jellyfish, dreaming minds in a luminous trance heading towards a hopelessly futile yet strangely inspirational end. | These ducks are almost invisible, almost silent lurching in the lumpy water, pelagic pilgrims of the storm abandoned to its surge and yet free. The scoter whistle their chants at sea. Around them are more barrel jellyfish, dreaming minds in a luminous trance heading towards a hopelessly futile yet strangely inspirational end. |
| This year’s lecture in honour of the late Country diarist William Condry, given by Jim Perrin, is “A Thoreau for Our Time”, on 7 October, in MoMA/Tabernacle, Machynlleth. Tickets £5 on the door, to include refreshments. More information at www.thecondrylecture.co.uk | This year’s lecture in honour of the late Country diarist William Condry, given by Jim Perrin, is “A Thoreau for Our Time”, on 7 October, in MoMA/Tabernacle, Machynlleth. Tickets £5 on the door, to include refreshments. More information at www.thecondrylecture.co.uk |
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