How's the water in Charlottetown Harbour? It's already warm — and swarming with jellyfish

It's not unusual to see some jellyfish floating by the Charlottetown Harbour this time of year but the hundreds currently in the water are catching people's attention.

"They look at it [and] go, 'Holy cow, look at all the jellyfish there,'" said Reid Barnett, operations manager at the Charlottetown Yacht Club.

"At points, you can almost walk across the water on them, they're so thick."

Barnett spends lots of time around the water and said it looks like more than jellyfish than usual. It's not a problem for boaters but he said he certainly doesn't want to go swimming any time soon.

"Quite often, we're putting the boats down and there'll be a plethora of jellyfish all around the boats," he said.

The sheer amount is also attracting tourists. People along the boardwalk are stopping to take photos and ask why there are so many.

"'I've kinda been wandering around and I see a lot of jellyfish. Everywhere I look, I see the jellyfish," said Fred Rohde, who is visiting from London, Ont.

"Literally, they're everywhere."

Some residents think the jellyfish have arrived earlier too.

"It's very different," said Marlene Hunt.

"Since the beginning of May almost, I see a lot of jellyfish off the wharf, which is kinda startling."

It's likely lion's mane jellyfish in the harbour, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This type of jellyfish is purplish-red with long, scraggly tentacles that sting.

Some in the harbour are about the size of a basketball — but they can get a lot bigger.

"Usually swarms of this size happen later in August, sometimes in the early fall," said aquatic science biologist Jeff Clements.