DCR reported today that lion's-mane jellyfish have floated into the waters off Carson Beach in South Boston, Wollaston Beach in Quincy and Nahant Beach in, well, Nahant.
The state's posted purple flags at beaches there to warn people about the gelatinous beasties, which are large and have long, stinging tentacles.
Nahant was home to 19th-century scientist Alexander Agassiz, who, in 1865, described the largest lion's mane ever found: Some seven feet in diameter with 120-foot-long tentacles. The jellyfish that now make regular appearances at Boston-area beaches tend to be a bit smaller than that.
