Thousands of mysterious gelatin-like creatures washed up on the shore of Huntington Beach in California on Monday. The very strange creatures have prompted curiosity from the residences and the locals nearby area. Some people are even guessing that creatures could be baby monsters or aliens. But experts said hey are most likely species of the sea cucumbers.
Mysterious Small Creatures Seen On Huntington Beach
According to Gizmodo, Ryan Rustan, a local resident, posted a picture of the strange creatures that he described as "little water balloons popping under his feet." Rustan noted that there were approximately thousands of these little creatures on the Huntington Beach shore. This post created a small talk from the Huntington Beach Community Facebook page.
Don Coursey, another local residing nearby who has been walking on the same stretch of beach with his wife for more than 30 years, said told CBS Los Angeles this is the first time that he has seen such puzzling creatures. But Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Eric Dieterman said otherwise, in an interview, that these strange creatures have appeared long time before.
They've made an appearance on our beaches before. Not in this number, but I have seen them in the past.
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. Immortal News said that some onlookers and experts pointed to sea salps but with dorsal nerve cords or backbones. They are marine invertebrates – chordates but are actually more closely related to vertebrates because of this.
What Are Salps?
A salp (plural salps) or salpa (plural salpae or salpas) is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body. Salp jet propulsion is one of the most efficient in the animal kingdom. Salps are common in equatorial, temperate, and cold seas, where they can be seen at the surface, singly or in long, stringy colonies.
