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Black Sea Nettle Jellyfish wash ashore on Coronado Beach due to Algal Bloom

Though I’m usually out sailing on the water, yesterday afternoon I was running along side of it. Over the infamous dunes that spell out Coronado and past our central lifeguard tower, I was heading north alongside the ocean when I came across a jellyfish; deep purple like a plum. I was so tempted to touch it, but was glad that I didn’t as I later found out that it was a Black Sea Nettle (Chrysaora achlyos), a rare species of jellyfish found only in the Pacific Ocean and often nicknamed the “black jelly”. While sightings are not often, when they appear, they appear in packs and usually during a red tide. How interesting..we’ve got algal bloom right now. Because of the recent increase in zooplankton, what black sea nettles feed on, they have been turning up all over San Diego.

A friend of mine, Marnie Buddo, also an avid sailor, was at the Kona Kai Marina on Shelter Island this past Monday and spotted one just off the shoreline. She took a photo with her phone and posted it on Facebook.

Photo courtesy of Marnie Buddo

Though they are beautiful, beware! Be on watch; they sting.

Enjoy from afar, and snap a picture if you happen to find one.

You can even report a sighting, or track sightings, here: http://www.jellywatch.org/sightings_list . If you scroll down the list, you'll find a user reported multiple sightings of the Black Sea Nettle just a couple days ago.

5 members like this

Staff Comment by Kellee Hearther on July 19, 2012 at 9:05am: Thanks for sharing this Lindsay. My husband and I were jogging on the beach last Saturday evening and saw LOTS of parts from these nettles. Nice to know what they are.

Comment by TR on July 19, 2012 at 1:05pm: beautiful photo....can anyone tell me if the kelp and algae has been removed down by the Shores...was a bit too much to deal with when I was down last...also if the shoreline is still thick with it...thanks

Comment by eCoronado on July 19, 2012 at 1:16pm: Hi TR, the kelp was removed earlier this week. See the story here.

Comment by jimbolaya on July 23, 2012 at 11:46am: I saw one of those while surfing at Tourmaline a couple of years ago. Had no idea what it was. Thanks for the article.

Comment by Kayt Dowling on July 23, 2012 at 12:52pm: One to two years ago there were a TON of these guys in Glorietta Bay! Got great photos and underwater video of them.. but I think the one I saw was dead. They are HUGE! Just last week there was a large one, also already dead floating off that small little beach in front of Il Fornio.. someone was trying to fish it out with a stick since there were children nearby, and often dogs play in the water at that little beach. Came back a few days later to a weird deep purple paint like substance on the rocks.. baked in.. finally put two and two together and it must have been the jelly they fished out.. but I feel like so many people could have touched it by accident on that rock.. so scary!

Comment by Karen Bland on July 23, 2012 at 2:13pm: Thanks for posting! Saw a large one this morning down by beach at Ferry Landing. Also saw some babies down at Border Park south of IB last week.

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