"Sea Pickle" Washing up on Oregon Beaches

Beach-goers were baffled to find "sea pickles" washed up on the shores of Oregon, United States. Most of the "sea pickles" measured 2 feet long, but in the warm open ocean where they are typically found, they can grow up to 60 feet long.

A "sea pickle" is in fact not a single animal. It is a pyrosome—a group of rice grain-sized zooids stuck together to form a single colony.

If you find a pyrosome at the beach, don't panic. Washed-up pyrosomes are dead, so they are safe to touch. It will feel much like a jellyfish. Interestingly, since pyrosomes possess a backbone-like body part, they are more closely related to us humans than jellyfish.

#SeaPickles #pyrosome #Oregon #jellyfish

Image source: Tiffany Boothe at SeasideAquarium

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