Lots of dead jellyfish at Myrtle Beach, SC, last weekend. Is that normal for this time of year?

[raccoon]

They were the kind that's mostly transparent, a little bit of brown pigment.

[madokie]

1. Its the Gods

They do things like this from time to time.


If I must

[MattBaggins]

9. The Gods must be crazy

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. Those aren't jellyfish!

They are the spines of politicans of all kinds that were dumped at sea!

[woodsprite]

3. The only time we were there ws about 13 yrs ago, and we experienced the same

Tons and tons of jellyfish on shore, some the size of dinner plates and at least 4" thick. It made walking on the beach a total pain. We spent most of the week in the campground pool. That was the last week in April/first week in May. We're gonna venture there again this year in July to see if it's different. I remember it looked like you could walk way out and still be in knee-depth water. I wanted to do that, but you just couldn't really with the jellyfish.

[xdrfox]

4. I have tracked their deaths

Look at the color, whats inside, has absorbed as it lived in waters !

Jellyfish East Coast of Florida Peninsula State Park *PICS*1242
To Gulf Oil Spill on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/438/996/Jellyfish_East_Coast_of_Florida_Peninsula_State_Park_PICS.html

"Tens of thousands of Jelly fish are washing ashore Florida East Coast"1868
To Environment on Thursday, July 01, 2010
http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/91/422/Tens_of_thousands_of_Jelly_fish_are_washing_ashore_Florida_East_Coast.html

[raccoon]

6. thanks for those links. nt

[onenote]

5. Myrtle Beach has always had a large jellyfish population

and it is common for them to wash ashore, even in winter. Warming oceans likely are going to cause the jellyfish population to expand and it may be that this winter is particularly "jelly fish friendly" (although I haven't heard any reports that the number of jellies this winter is significantly out of proportion from other years).

[Fawke Em]

7. Apparently swarms of them are washing ashore on South Padre Island, too.

Hundreds of Portuguese Man-O-War jellyfish have washed up on the north end of South Padre Island.

Viewer Louis Balderas Jr. sent a photo of the jellyfish-strewn beach to KGBT in Harlingen, Texas, a CBS affiliate.

Tony Reisinger, a coastal resources agent with the State of Texas, told KGBT Action 4 News that the jellyfish likely washed ashore en masse after preying on fish in the area.

"They go where there’s food and they depend on the wind and we usually have what we call blooms in different areas and right now there’s a lot of fish that are spawning," Reisinger told Action 4 News.

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Swarms-of-jellyfish-wash-up-on-South-Padre-Island-140053113.html

[HopeHoops]

8. I don't have a clue, but they do swarm. I pulled one the size of a softball out of my trunks.

The water was filled with them. I don't know how the bugger got in there, but it was huge. Fortunately it was the clear variety (which don't sting) because it was right next to the unit. It still freaked me out. I put it back in the water.