Today in Ormond Beach, Florida, millions of jellyfish were washed ashore due to strong ocean currents. The beaches were glittering for miles as the sun reflected through these translucent sea creatures. I was lucky enough to witness this gorgeous gathering. My boyfriend and I first noticed the overwhelming amount of jellies when we visited the beach around 7:00 AM, deciding to spend the morning elsewhere because of the high numbers making it nearly impossible to go for a morning swim. We returned to the beach later in the evening hoping that their numbers would have declined, but it seemed as if the population of jellies on the beach had more than quadrupled. Most of the critters were Moon Jellies. This type of jellyfish cannot really penetrate human flesh to sting (like longer tentacled jellyfish), only leaving a mild rash if they mistakenly do sting a human. However, around one of every ten jellyfish we spotted were more aggressive, stinging jellyfish with longer tentacles, most likely Cannonball Jellyfish. According to Daytona Beach News-Journal, over 2000 people were stung by jellyfish between July 2nd and July 3rd. They are expected to stick to the beaches until the winds and currents carry them out to sea once again.
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