When most people think of Lake Martin, jellyfish don’t exactly come to mind. According to reports from lake goers, however, that looks like it could be changing quickly as more of the creatures have been spotted recently in the body of fresh water.

Per Outdoor Alabama, freshwater jellyfish are sometimes found in high-quality static waters scattered throughout the state.  Both the medusa (moving) and the polyp or hydroid (fixed) stage can be found in bodies of freshwater in Alabama.  The medusa stage is most often seen in the late summer through fall. Small in comparison to marine jelly fish, the medusa stage usually have a diameter smaller than one-inch (22 mm).  The polyp stage is even smaller, ranging from a tenth-inch to third-inch (2 mm to 8 mm).

A video of freshwater jellyfish in Lake Martin near Chimney Rock has been released to the public by Outdoor Alabama. It can be found at the link below.

https://www.outdooralabama.com/invertebrates/freshwater-jellyfish

The freshwater species’ sting isn’t strong enough to be felt by humans.