Guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of the coldest core. One word: Jellyfish. I've been struggling with these critters for a couple of years now since I've been open water swimming in the sea on the west coast of Ireland. For one or two weeks in a season, these critters get blown in from the deep ocean and they bump up against the coast and the beach just where everybody likes to swim. Watching their numbers suddenly bloom and then gradually decrease. I think the beach and the tide have a natural filtering effect, so halfway through July, there were thousands, and swimming through them was difficult. In mid-August, there was hardly any. I think having a beach close by where they can wash up with each tide is a big plus. If it wasn't for the beach, they'd still be floating around. There's a natural fear of them because, according to the web, all jellyfish are stingers—some more than most. And when we bump into them, they're slimy and they can potentially harm us. On another level, they're kind of cool. When they're not at the surface where you can swim into them, and they're at different layers in the water column, that gives a cool kind of feeling of space flight to your swim. I've got a basic poll below. Have you been stung, or are you lucky and you've escaped the stinging? Of course, there's different types of jellyfish. One day I'll make a compilation of the types that I've seen and photographed. The big one for me this summer was the Lion's Mane jellyfish and I think I got stung in the face by a Lion's Mane. Quite painful. The face had some red swelling, halfway through the swim. As I was still swimming, cold water was on the sting immediately and I just had to keep going. In general, having jellyfish adds to the difficulty of a swim. So when they are not there, you really appreciate a jellyfish-free swim - and when they're there, well, you just have to get stuck in! 🐻