Sea Jellies or Blubbers are appearing like blobs of Alien gloop at Coolum Beach. I’ve seen bright blue Jellies before, but this batch is in the brown colour range. There are many different species with the biggest I’ve seen measuring 35 cm across, ranging down in size to a cute 6cm. They are harmless to humans.
Coolum Beach is on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, about 1.5 hours north from Brisbane – the Capital City of Queensland – the Sunshine State.
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Blubbers are carried on the tides but their tentacles can pulse and direct them a little. They use their tentacles to capture plankton, little fish and crustaceans. Humans can be stung if they come in contact with their tentacles, but the tentacles are not long and the sting they deliver is not serious. Treatment for a sting is initial flushing with warm water and secondary use of icepacks to dull the pain.
Morning walks on Coolum Beach reveal more than walkers, surfers and dogs.
Gelatinous and mostly circular in shape they that look somewhat like aliens. Leopard spots, clear squishy bodies, tentacles beneath dome shaped bell tops, they have all the makings of a Sci-fi thriller but are actually long time residents of Planet Earth. They can be transported around the world in the ballast of large ships and can create havoc in local ecosystems.
Tell me about the strange sea creatures from a beach near you.
Read more about what to do at Coolum.
Thanks for visiting for our last post for 2016 – We really appreciate it and would love you to add your travel post to the link below for Nancie’s Travel Photo Thursday which we co-host with Ruth from Tanama Tales and Rachel from Rachel’s Ruminations.
A Tropical Aussie Christmas Downunder Living in North Queensland
I know the focus was on the marine life, but I tell you that photo of footsteps in the sand had me simply mesmerized! Happy New Year! Love being a part of #TPThursday
Ha ha Jackie, I loved that one!
Wow….I’ve seen plenty of blue ‘jellies’ but never the brown ones. They’re actually quite pretty.
Ye Melissa, I love the Leopard spot ones.
We have these brown coloured jellies on our beaches here on the Gold Coast too. We normally only get the transparent ones. Love your photos and as you know I love Coolum beaches. Happy New Year! 🙂
I hope you have a lovely New Year Kathy – I know that you will!
These jellies are look very funky. I would not want to get close to them. I have heard a jelly sting is one of the most painful. The good thing is that the beach is so gorgeous that it doesn’t matter if the jellies are around ;0)
Great photos. That one on the bottom row, left side seems particularly unusual to me. Happy New Year!