Thousands of sea gooseberries have washed up on Orange County, California, beaches in recent days, according to the OC register.
The clear, spherical invertebrates are a subspecies of jellyfish, although they do not sting to collect food or when threatened, according to Animal Diversity Web. Instead, their tentacles create a sticky substance which allows them to attach to their prey. The clear orbs are classified by marine biologists as comb jellies due to the cilia which helps them move through the water.
Sea gooseberries can be found in most of the world’s oceans. California State Parks Officer Danielle Snyder told the OC Register the gooseberries all washing ashore together “was definitely something rare… I’ve worked on the beach for 30 years, I’ve never seen them before.” Californians were able to observe the most sea gooseberries over the weekend, before they washed back into the Pacific.
![The Sea Gooseberry Is Found In Most Oceans](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/sea-gooseberry-scaled.jpg)
The Sea Gooseberry Is Found In Most Parts Of The Pacific Ocean (Photo By Randy Bjorklund/Shutterstock)
Sea gooseberries are not dangerous, as they move by thrusting hair-like cilia, not venomous tentacles. Scientists do stress that swimmers and surfers should remain on the lookout for their more dangerous distant relative, the box jellyfish. (RELATED: Australian Spotted Jellyfish The Size Of Beach Balls Discovered Off The Coast Of The Carolinas)
This was not the first large-scale sea gooseberry sighting of 2020. A group of the comb jellies washed up on shore in the St. Cyrus National Nature Reserve near Montrose, Scotland, in January, according to The Courier.