Large and unusual jellyfish are holding their own spring break on Southwest Florida beaches. From Marco Island to Fort Myers Beach, people are wondering what the transparent blobs, some larger than a couple of feet, are and why they’ve been washing ashore over the last couple of weeks. Dr. Rick Bartleson, a researcher at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) for nearly 20 years said he’s never seen this type of jellyfish in Southwest Florida. He identifies it as a mushroom cap jellyfish. “It’s not normal to see them around here as far as I know, but I’ve seen them in the northern gulf,” Bartleson said. “But we’ve been having wind and cold fronts and they’re all plankton, so they move around with the currents and with the wind.”SCCF has gotten calls about folks spotting the mushroom caps on the beach lately. Austin Wise, a teacher at the Sanibel Sea School, tried to save a stranded one on Lighthouse Beach by safely picking it up off the sand to return it to the water. Boy, was that squishy thing heavy!“It felt like I was holding a bunch of Jell-O in my hands, about 20 pounds worth,” Wise said.He is used to teaching kids about marine life, but scooping up this mushroom cap was a first for him.“Typically the jellies that we see are not even close to that size around here,” he said.Can one of these guys hurt you? “They typically won’t sting anybody,” Bartleson said. “If you find one try to put it back in the water because they can’t breathe air and they have a better chance at surviving in the water.”Bartleson told NBC2 these jellies have a very mild sting, and because their tentacles don’t extend like a man o’ war, they’re usually easy to watch out for if you see one while swimming. He said you shouldn’t be worried about the influx of mushroom caps on our beaches from an environmental standpoint either.“Having a one-time occurrence of them washing up just means they got concentrated by the wind and you’re just seeing them all of a sudden because of the currents,” he said.So whether the mushroom cap jellies are invading or vacationing in Southwest Florida, they likely won’t bother you if by chance you come across one of these sea critters on the beach.
SANIBEL, Fla. —
Large and unusual jellyfish are holding their own spring break on Southwest Florida beaches.
From Marco Island to Fort Myers Beach, people are wondering what the transparent blobs, some larger than a couple of feet, are and why they’ve been washing ashore over the last couple of weeks.
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Dr. Rick Bartleson, a researcher at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) for nearly 20 years said he’s never seen this type of jellyfish in Southwest Florida.
He identifies it as a mushroom cap jellyfish.
“It’s not normal to see them around here as far as I know, but I’ve seen them in the northern gulf,” Bartleson said. “But we’ve been having wind and cold fronts and they’re all plankton, so they move around with the currents and with the wind.”
SCCF has gotten calls about folks spotting the mushroom caps on the beach lately. Austin Wise, a teacher at the Sanibel Sea School, tried to save a stranded one on Lighthouse Beach by safely picking it up off the sand to return it to the water.
Boy, was that squishy thing heavy!
“It felt like I was holding a bunch of Jell-O in my hands, about 20 pounds worth,” Wise said.
He is used to teaching kids about marine life, but scooping up this mushroom cap was a first for him.
“Typically the jellies that we see are not even close to that size around here,” he said.
Can one of these guys hurt you?
“They typically won’t sting anybody,” Bartleson said. “If you find one try to put it back in the water because they can’t breathe air and they have a better chance at surviving in the water.”
Bartleson told NBC2 these jellies have a very mild sting, and because their tentacles don’t extend like a man o’ war, they’re usually easy to watch out for if you see one while swimming.
He said you shouldn’t be worried about the influx of mushroom caps on our beaches from an environmental standpoint either.
“Having a one-time occurrence of them washing up just means they got concentrated by the wind and you’re just seeing them all of a sudden because of the currents,” he said.
So whether the mushroom cap jellies are invading or vacationing in Southwest Florida, they likely won’t bother you if by chance you come across one of these sea critters on the beach.
