JELLY FISH--

Beaches around here frequently are populated with little blue “balloons” like the one pictured above.  Locals tell me these are the carcasses of jelly fish which have been washed ashore in the high tide.

They are sprinkled along that tide line and inflate as the sun expands their gasses, filling their delicate bodies like 2 inch by 6 inch or thereabouts, oblong sausage skins.

Often there are hundreds of them sprinkled along that generally narrow high-tide line and they are not to be trifled with—even in this state of decomposition.

They still are capable of inflicting a painful—even fatal—sting with their venom.  They are concentrated into swarms or “blooms” by ocean currents and can number as many as 100,000 in small areas.

Only a tiny percentage of critters in those blooms wash ashore and only some species are a nuisance to humans.

Are these particular creatures a problem?  I do not know but I certainly didn’t touch one.

I do know we have done lots of splashing and shelling in the surf along beaches with lots of them visible ashore without any painful encounters.

These creatures are neither vertebrates nor fish so some folks are a bit fussy about that popular name which has been around for about 100 years—preferring to call them jellies or sea jellies.

Any way you look at this phenomena it certainly is unlike anything you are likely to see while shore fishing in Ohio.

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That is Dick Weeks in the left background of the above photo along with his wife Dee from the Syracuse, NY area and my lady, Sue Brooks in the dark top.  Dick and Dee have become delightful friends and pleasurable companions during our snow-birding visit to Vero Beach.  This photo was done on Bathtub Beach near Stuart, FL.