Thousands of jellyfish spotted off fisherman's boat in Dorset

Chris Hinton said the fluther of moon jellyfish covered an area roughly the size of a football pitch

A fisherman has captured images of thousands of jellyfish off the Dorset coast.

Chris Hinton spotted the creatures, collectively known as a "smack" or a "fluther" of jellyfish, off Charmouth.

"It was an amazing sight and this fluther covered an area of roughly a football pitch," he said.

Senior BBC meteorologist David Braine said jellyfish numbers were soaring as a result of unusually high sea surface temperatures.

The jellyfish were spotted off the Dorset coast near Charmouth

He said: "As the number of plankton increase due to sunlight and higher temperatures, that gives more food for jellyfish and their numbers soar.

"The increase in the jellyfish population has been attributed to factors including climate change, over-fishing and the run-off of agricultural fertilisers.

"The rise in sea temperature and the elimination of predators such as sharks and tuna has made conditions ideal, and blooms are likely to happen much more frequently."

The moon jellyfish photographed are common in UK waters and have a mild sting - but are not considered to be dangerous.