PORT ARANSAS, Texas – A KSAT employee sent in photos of blue button jellyfish that she spotted in Port Aransas Monday evening after storms in the area started clearing up.
The scientific name for the jellyfish is Porpita porpita and they are closely related to Portuguese man o’wars, but don’t sting as ferociously, said Texas Parks and Wildlife science director Mark Fisher.
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Fisher told KSAT these particular jellyfish “typically live far offshore, but are carried onto the beach by onshore winds.”
From April to October, the wind along the coast is typically from the south and southeast, according to Fisher, who said people “don’t see them in the winter when the wind is out of the north.”
Officials with Padre Island National seashore also responded to a request for comment saying the blue button jellyfish are “fairly common” and added that the jellyfish "can sting but it isn’t really felt by humans.”
It’s just another in a long list of beach stories that have come out in the last month:
Beautiful but dangerous blue dragons discovered on Texas beach are ‘rare find’
Gators in the gulf: Alligators caught on video in Galveston, Port O’Connor
Map shows high levels of fecal bacteria detected at some Texas beaches
Blue dragons aren’t the only odd things spotted at Texas beaches in the last year