It may be too cold to go swimming now but if you decide to brave the chilly Mediterranean sea you’ll be met with some fascinating sights.

A video uploaded by Maltese Facebook page Raniero’s Adventures captures a ‘jelly-like species’ swimming off the coast of Gozo and it literally looks like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie.

‘Found this jelly-like species whilst diving in Gozo. I have never come across this throughout my diving experience. I had to hold it in my hands to show you what it was and when I let it go it was like it had no life. It looks like a small whale or dolphin … any idea what it could be?,” the diver said in a Facebook post.

Turns out that this jelly-like species in fact ‘belongs to the salp family’ according to marine biologist Alan Deidun and, thankfully, is completely harmless.

According to Deidun, the tunicate is not a jellyfish and does not sting, it only filters water which explains its crazy-looking gelatinous body.

Though it may not be as exciting as we originally thought, the salp is still super unique and a rare sight in Maltese waters that baffles even the most experienced diver…

…It goes to show just how diverse and fascinating the Meditteranean really is!

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