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 <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/02/01/sea-pickle-washing-up-oregon-beaches/9230497002/" alt="pyrosome" class="on">pyrosome</a>—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 #jellyfishImage source:&nbsp;Tiffany Boothe at SeasideAquarium