‘Beware the Blob!’ Why are jellyfish washing up by the thousands on a Texas beach?

Jellyfish are washing up by the thousands on a Texas beach, and wildlife experts aren’t sure why.

The moon jellyfish have been appearing by the thousands on the Padre Island National Seashore. From a distance, they seem only to be bumps in the sand. Up close, however, the translucent jellyfish with their four pink horseshoe-shaped tissues are easy to spot.

Wildlife experts have a couple of ideas about what’s behind the strange phenomenon.

Prevailing winds and the water current may be pushing them ashore. That’s the potentially simple explanation. Or, perhaps more complexly, a “broadcast spawning” event months ago could have formed the giant school of jellyfish, officials say.

Moon jellyfish reproduce by releasing sperm and eggs into the water, which hatch into a larva that attaches itself to a surface and grows into a polyp, according to Oceana. The polyp asexually produces clones that swim away and eventually turn into jellyfish.

“Either way, these jellyfish are mostly harmless but can cause minor skin irritation if handled,” Padre Island National Seashore said in a Facebook post Friday.

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 6:40 PM.