Several rare and enormous jellyfish, nicknamed the “pink meanie,” were spotted on a Texas beach this week – horrifying beachgoers with their expansive tentacles that can stretch up to 70 feet.
More than 10 cotton candy-colored jellyfish were spotted along a 10-mile stretch of beach, Jace Tunnell, the director of community engagement at Harte Research Institute, told Chron.
The pink jellyfish, known as Drymonema larsoni, can weigh over 50 pounds and have tentacles that stretch up to 70 feet, Tunnell said.
In a beachcombing video shared Monday on social media, Tunnell said he’d been trying to capture a pink meanie on camera for over a year.
“This is about the time when you start seeing them show up,” he said, noting their appearance coincides with an influx of moon jellyfish, their primary source of food.
Moon jellies, or Aurelia aurita, are recognizable by their translucent bodies. They are one of the most common types of jellyfish found in the Gulf of Mexico and the primary prey of pink meanies, which only bloom when large numbers of moon jellyfish are present.
“If there’s no moon jellies, they die off real quick. If the water gets cold, they die off real quick. So to be able to see them is pretty rare,” Tunnell told the outlet.
Pink meanies have been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea and waters near South Africa, according to the report.
While they may seem intimidating due to their size and name, pink meanies unleash only a mild sting, which Tunnell rated a “two out of 10.”
Tunnell still advised those who may encounter pink meanies to be cautious of getting stung. “You could use vinegar to try to remove some of the tentacles off of you and remove some of the sting,” he said.
He also warned beachgoers that, even though they look like cotton candy, pink meanies are not edible.
“If you’re like, ‘Do people eat these things? It looks like cotton candy.’ No, you can’t eat these things,” Tunnell said in a video shared Monday. “This is one of the jellyfish that people aren’t eating.”
Similar to other types of jellyfish, pink meanies are mostly made up of water, meaning once they wash up on the beach, they evaporate quickly as birds and crabs feed on them.
