Jellyfish making their yearly visit to the Sussex coast

Pictures of jellyfish have been popping up all over social media, with some beachgoers catching them in buckets.

Graham Cherrett, senior foreshore inspector for Adur and Worthing, said the public have nothing to fear from the yearly visitors.

“If they sting you, it’s no worse than a nettle sting,” he said.

“If you don’t bother them, they won’t sting you, same as a wasp or a bee.”

Mr Cherrett said he hadn’t spotted any personally, but the pictures he had seen were of compass jellyfish.

He warned anybody with allergies to take necessary precautions and asked that people do not catch the jellyfish and bring them ashore.

“They belong in the sea – leave them there,” he said.

Compass jellyfish can grow up to 30cm in diameter, are usually a yellowish white or brown colour and have 24 tentacles arranged in eight groups of three.