Is this 'the year of the jellyfish' on the OBX?

OUTER BANKS, N.C.

Beachgoers were rejoicing last week after swarms of tentacle-wielding jellyfish withdrew from an unexpected shoreline invasion.

The reddish-brown jellyfish - a species called sea nettles - disappeared sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday just as suddenly as they'd shown up the previous weekend throughout the Outer Banks.

However, if the appropriate conditions return, so could the sea nettles, said Beth Wilcox, special activities coordinator at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

As is the case with most of nature, the jellyfish season is cyclical and often unpredictable, Wilcox said.

"This could be the year of the jellyfish," she said. "It's hard to give a well-defined answer as to why there's so many this year."

But Wilcox - as well as some local lifeguards - did pose a theory.

The rainfall from a July 30 thunderstorm probably lowered the salinity in the nearby sound, where sea nettles are usually found. When that happened, the jellyfish, helped along by wind and currents, migrated toward higher salinity levels in the ocean, Wilcox said.

No match for the rough surf, most of the jellies were probably dead before washing up on the beaches, she added.

Nonetheless, Nags Head Ocean Rescue Captain Chad Motz said the squishy creatures kept most people out of the water this past week.

"We haven't seen them this bad since I don't know when," Motz said Monday. "Our town is littered with them."

A few miles north, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk lifeguards were witnessing the same phenomenon: Hot days on a crowded beach with few people brave enough to share the ocean with thousands of jellyfish.

"In all honesty, the jelly fish prevented us being busy," Kitty Hawk Ocean Rescue Director Cole Yeatts said.

Lifeguards fielded lots of questions about the jellyfish and occasionally came to the rescue with "jelly juice" - a blend of vinegar and water used to relieve victims of jellyfish stings.

After all, there were a few brave souls who ventured into occupied waters.

On Tuesday, Beth Galik and her 13-year-old daughter, Emily, searched for seashells in Kill Devil Hills.

"We wish there weren't so many (jellyfish)," Beth Galik of Baltimore said. "But we're only here a week."

A few miles north, Tom Feltner played in the surf with his 10- and 4-year-old sons. The Colonial Beach, Va., residents were also paying the price of swimming with jellyfish.

Sea nettles do have stinging cells, called nematocysts, on their tentacles. But the sting of a sea nettle is typically minor and short-lived, Wilcox said.

"It's just aggravating. It's not like it hurts," Feltner said.

Erin James, (252) 441-1711, erin.james@pilotonline.com