Beachgoers have spoken of their surprise at the "surreal" sight of thousands of dead jellyfish washed up on the shore. The moon jellyfish were spotted at Broadsands Beach near Ilfracombe.

Though a landlubber may say the robots look more like a stumpy octopus than a jellyfish, according to the paper the shape is actually most similar to a juvenile “ephyra stage” moon jellyfish ...

In 2006, beaches in Italy and Spain were closed because of a bloom of jellyfish known as mauve stingers. In 2013 a Swedish nuclear plant temporarily shut down because moon jellies were blocking ...

One expert praised the design but warned that the man-made jellyfish might be eaten by turtles. The flexible, 20cm-wide bots are modelled on the appearance of the moon jellyfish during its larval ...