A striking blue jellyfish has been photographed at Wembury beach in Devon, offering an early sign that the species is beginning to move inshore as spring plankton blooms get underway.

The photographs were taken by Matthew Staddon and show a blue jellyfish (Cyanea lamarckii) in the waters off Wembury.

Blue jellyfish are drawn inshore by blooms of plankton, which they catch using a dense array of stinging tentacles. The bell can grow up to 30cm in diameter, and while the species is a familiar sight around Devon's coastline during warmer months, it is worth giving them space; they do sting if handled.

The bell colour varies depending on the jellyfish's maturity, ranging from pale yellow in younger individuals through to a deeper purple. Younger, paler specimens are sometimes confused with the larger lion's mane jellyfish.

A group of jellyfish is known as a “smack”, but is more commonly referred to as a “bloom”.