An Australian spotted jellyfish is native to the Pacific Ocean but began appearing in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years. (Padre Island National Seashore/Facebook)
(Tribune News Service) — A blob-like creature covered in polka dots recently washed up on a Texas beach, but don’t let its soft and squishy appearance fool you, experts say.
The dotted blob is a “not-so-welcome” discovery, Padre Island National Seashore said in a June 30 Facebook post, sharing an image of the sea-faring critter splayed out on the sand.
It’s an Australian spotted jellyfish and it’s a long way from home, officials said. The jelly is native to the Pacific Ocean but began appearing in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years.
The spotted species grows big, up to 20 inches wide, and travels in large packs, the post said. But unlike many other types of jellyfish, it can’t harm people — at least not directly.
“They have a mild venom, and are not considered a hazard to people. In fact, their venom is so weak they can’t use it to stun prey,” officials said.
So they’re big, squishy and harmless. Sounds like a OK blob, right? Wrong.
Since arriving in the Gulf, they’ve been feeding on “large quantities of zooplankton, making it hard for local marine wildlife to find food,” the post said.
Experts believe the species may have sneaked its way over to the Gulf of Mexico by latching onto the hulls of ships while in the form of polyps, according to the Texas Invasive Species Institute. The spotted jelly can live up to five years in the polyp stage of its life cycle before graduating to the adult “medusa” stage, at which point they generally live for another two years, according to the institute.
“In the Gulf, this invader has formed huge swarms in recent years,” the institute said. “Each jellyfish can clear roughly 1,765 feet of water filled with plankton in one day, making dense aggregations of Australian spotted jellyfish dangerous.”
While the jellies can have a harsh impact on the Gulf’s ecosystem, there isn’t much the average person can do if they come across one.
“The best thing to (do) from an individual’s perspective is to just leave them where you found them” and let nature do the rest, officials said.
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