Goo alarm! What's wobbling around on the beach?

Oregon (USA) - Dozens of "goo balls" have spread along the west coast of the USA. What looks disgusting turns out to be an annually recurring phenomenon.

Jellyfish as far as the eye can see. This spectacle of nature takes place on the west coast of the USA at the beginning of fall.
Jellyfish as far as the eye can see. This spectacle of nature takes place on the west coast of the USA at the beginning of fall.  © Screenshot/Seaside Aquarium/Sam Heroux

According to the Seaside Aquarium from the US state of Oregon, the transparent wobbly things are jellyfish that have been washed up on the beach.

Every year, in late summer and early fall, this natural spectacle can be observed. The reason why the coast is covered with lifeless animals at precisely this time is due to a natural process.

Jellyfish can come in two different forms. Type one, the so-called medusae, reproduce by spawning en masse in the water and releasing eggs and sperm. Fertilized eggs eventually become free-swimming larvae - and now it gets exciting!

If a large number of these larvae attach themselves to a hard surface, they can develop in their entirety into type two, a so-called polyp.

If the marine conditions are favorable, each individual polyp begins to reproduce itself and shed "body parts". The result? That's right: new medusae, popularly known as "jellyfish".

This dead jellyfish (also called "medusa" by scientists) is much larger than the palm of an adult's hand.
ContentImage.Description   © Screenshot/Seaside Aquarium/Sam Heroux

Medusae or jellyfish only have a short lifespan

While polyps can live and reproduce for decades, medusae usually only live for a few months - and, as in the west of the USA, eventually wash ashore.

The strange-looking creatures are not dangerous. Nor are they threatened with extinction. While some jellyfish end up lifeless on the beach, numerous new animalsare "born" in the sea at the same time.