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In June there were reports of giant jellyfish invading our beaches. Dense shoals of barrel jellyfish appeared in the waters off south Wales and the south-west of England and thousands of them – some the size of dustbin lids - were washed up on Cefn Sidan beach near Llanelli.  Some scientists believe that this is a symptom of a larger trend: a global explosion in the numbers of jellyfish because of climate change, the overfishing of their natural predators and too many nutrients in the sea.

In this week’s programme Adam Walton meets two Bangor University scientists who are exploring this trend by gathering data on jellyfish numbers around Anglesey. He joins Dr. Stephanie Wilson and Kathryn Burdett on the Menai Bridge, where Kathryn is spending the summer counting the different species of jellyfish as they pass through the Menai Straits. As dozens of large lion’s mane jellyfish pass beneath the Bridge, Stephanie and Kathryn explain that there’s more to jellyfish than 95% water and a nasty sting!

Kathryn takes Adam on a jellyfish hunt on Rhosneigr beach, where they discover moon jellyfish washed up by the tide. And Stephanie collects a sample of what jellyfish eat: the tiny creatures living in our oceans known as zooplankton. As they take a closer look at their zooplankton under the microscope, Stephanie tells Adam about her research into the role of plankton poo in the global carbon cycle!