Swimmer surrounded by hundreds of stinging jellyfish off the coast of Cornwall
Fisherman finds himself in the middle of potentially-lethal swarm in tourist hotspot
A TERRIFIED swimmer had a close encounter with a swarm of stinging jellyfish at a tourist hotspot off the British coast.
Joey Auger was spearfishing off Smugglers Cove at Portreath, Cornwall, when he found himself surrounded by hundreds of compass jellyfish - each capable of delivering a nasty sting.
He immediately abandoned his trip and headed back to shore.
His fiancee Charlotte Thomson was scared for him, saying: "I was shocked as Joey is usually is out spear fishing and snorkelling for at least an hour and a half at a time.
"But he came back within 30 minutes as he was surrounded by them and worried because he wasn’t sure what type of jellyfish there were and whether they were capable of administering a deadly sting.
"There may have been even over 100 in a very small area and space of time.
"Worrying to know they are so close from the shore but that the swimmers would have had no idea they were there."
Joey's terrifying experience comes just days after dozens of blue jellyfish washed up on a beach in West Wales.
The Velella jellyfish are cousins of the Portuguese Man o' War and and have a distinctive blue pigmentation.
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