TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. — When people go to the beach, they might expect to see some wildlife from dolphins to crabs to jellyfish. But what one woman stumbled upon Friday on Tybee Island was unexpected.
Jodi Moody posted these photos of what appeared to be hundreds if not thousands of cannonball jellyfish on Tybee Island.
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Moody said she thinks the windy conditions last week helped them wash ashore on the north side of the beach.
☀️JELLYFISH JAMBOREE !! ☀️.. I’ve never seen this many at once before!?
Posted by Jodi Moody on Friday, May 21, 2021
These kind of jellyfish are called the cannonball species. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ coastal division says that they are the most prominent jellyfish species on the southeast coast.
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Tybee Island City Manager Shawn Gillen told the Savannah Morning News that it’s typical to see the jellyfish wash ashore but not always in numbers like what Moody saw.
“It happens every year, maybe not as concentrated in one single area as that,” he told the newspaper.
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During the summer and fall months, the DNR said cannonballs can make up to 16% of biomass on the coastline. They are typically found in estuaries and saline water.
Officials say cannonball jellyfish are not known for stinging humans, but the toxin from a cannonball can cause cardiac problems or allergic reaction in both humans and animals.
Cannonball jellyfish though has history in the food industry. The DNR says some shrimp trawlers have turned to them when shrimping season is closed and there’s a popular demand for dried jellyfish in Asia.
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