"Hulking huge" upper Cambrian jellyfish fossils impress palaeontologists of the California Institute of Technology who discovered thousands of fossilised jellyfish, many as large as 70cm (28in) in diameter, in central Wisconsin (USA). According to a report in Nature Science Update, 30 Jan 2002, the fossils are buried in several different layers of a "fossilised beach" and form the largest deposit of fossil jellyfish ever found. James Hagadorn, who found the fossils, believes the jellyfish were trapped in stormy conditions in a shallow tidal lagoon and preserved themselves by digging into the sand trying to escape. Another palaeontologist, Ronald Pickering of the University of New Brunswick, Canada commented "They must have been buried extremely quickly". Because the fossils are found in several layers, Pickering also commented "It’s not just a one-off event, it happened at least six times".

Editorial Comment: Such a large deposit of soft-bodied creatures could only be formed by rapid catastrophic watery burial. Wisconsin is also a long way from any present-day ocean. Ever wondered what fossil evidence would result from the world wide flood in Noah's day that had two catastrophic tides each day and completely reworked the surface of the earth? (Genesis 6-9) (Ref. jellyfish, catastrophe, Noah)