Beached Moon Jellies in North Carolina, Photographs by Katelin Kukk
Moon Jellies
By: Katelin Kukk
While in Corolla, North Carolina, on July 13th, I noticed an interesting sight. The whole beach was covered in translucent hockey-puck-shaped jellies, commonly known as moon jellies. Due to their weak swimming abilities, they are often found stranded on Outer Banks’ beaches from currents or tides that have brought them in.
Moon Jellies have four colored horseshoe-shaped gonads in the center of their dome. If they are completely translucent, that means, unfortunately, they are dead.
Moon Jellies are pretty harmless, but it is still recommended not to pick them up.
I am currently working on a larger article on moon jellies for the Nature and the Environment Magazine, but I wanted to share something along the way. Keep your eyes peeled for more information soon!
-Katelin Kukk
