A US beauty spot has been hit by an invasion of thousands of peculiar slimy creatures along its beach. The partially translucent, pink gelatinous skin-breathing sea cucumbers have washed up across more than two miles of Seaside Beach in Oregon.
“They are literally littering the tideline,” said Tiffany Boothe from the Seaside Aquarium. The sea cucumbers are about a half-inch (1.3 centimetre) long but can grow to about 6 inches (15 centimetres). They normally burrow into the sand along the low tideline and farther out; however, they have appeared on the shore due to a combination of heavy surf and low tide.
The phenomenon can occur whenever surf and tide conditions coincide, which can mean a few times a year or once in a few years.
Occasionally, a handful will be scattered in spots on the beach.
However, the large groupings of the sea cucumbers seen on Tuesday is unusual.
Ms Boothe said she hadn’t seen this many of the creatures on the beach in a couple of years.
She said they aren’t capable of returning to their natural habitat on their own so would dry up and die.
Birds don’t eat the sea cucumbers, however invertebrates like beach hoppers and beach fleas do feast on them. Whatever wasn’t eaten was expected to dry up quickly and blend in with the sand. They were assumed to have been gone by Wednesday or Thursday.
The sea cucumbers, scientific name Leptosynapta clarki, live along the coast from northern California to the Gulf of Alaska. Sea cucumbers are invertebrates, don’t have eyes or a brain and feed on tiny particles of algae, plankton or waste materials, according to National Geographic.
There are around 1,200 known species of sea cucumber, living in salt water on or near the seafloor and sometimes partly buried beneath it. Seaside, a small resort city which is popular with surfers, is about 80 miles northwest of Portland — Oregon’s biggest cities.
