A jellyfish invasion is taking place in Mission Bay right now as part of a spring ritual in our local waters.
“The last couple of weeks has been crazy with the amount of jellyfish,” said Zach Borba, an employee at Mission Bay Sports Center.
“You’re down here dragging kayaks to the water and stepping on them. It’s like stepping on a banana peel."
Luckily for Borba and others who come in contact with them, this particular kind of jellyfish is harmless.
“Just be careful not to touch your mouth or eyes cause you will get their stingers on you and when they can penetrate the skin, it’s usually the sensitive skin of the lips or mouth,” said Vince Levesque an aquarist with Birch Aquarium at Scripps.
Levesque identified them as “moon jellies” and said, unlike “purple striped jellies” or “black jellies” more commonly found in the ocean, their stingers aren’t big enough to break your skin.
The moon jellies are translucent, and can appear in different colors, but most of the ones seen in Mission Bay look white in the water.
“They probably will disappear around May or June,” said Levesque.
