Visitors to Seaside might be surprised, and a little grossed out, to find thousands of transparent, blubbery, worm-like creatures on the beach this week.
According to a press release from the Seaside Aquarium, “Heavy seas and low tides have uprooted thousands of skin-breathing sea cucumbers, leaving them high and dry on Seaside Beach.”
It is not totally unusual to see the blobby animals on the beach this time of year, the aquarium said, noting, however, “it is remarkable how many have been left stranded.”
Usually, these animals live “just past the surf, burrowed into the sand for protection,” the aquarium said, but heavy surf can dislodge them and then low tides can leave them stranded.
The animals are not harmful to humans and will end up as food for birds and invertebrates living on the beach.
But, the aquarium said, “We would advise not letting your dogs consume too many of them. They might upset their stomach.”
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