Strange creatures are showing up by the millions along the coast | Pyrosomes | Oregon Field Guide

Sometime after 2014 — no one can say exactly when — scientists started getting reports of a mysterious sea creature showing up on Oregon beaches. And not just a few either — these things were showing up by the millions, and they were unlike anything scientists had ever seen here before. They are pyrosomes, or “sea pickles” as they are sometimes called.

This story premiered on November 2, 2017.

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[kevinjonker]

If the movies have taught me anything, it means Godzilla is about to make landfall.

[paulschofield]

There's been alot of earthquake swarms of the cost of Oregon recently... Maybe???

[theairportstuff]

Pyrosomes are characterized as highly successful planktonic grazers, and swarms of these colonies can consume substantial amounts of phytoplankton (Alldredge and Madin, 1982; Décima et al., 2019). They have been noted for their potential to restructure the food web when aggregating in large quantities... They are carbon cyclers apparently

[cameroncalzone]

it’s nice to see the scholars so excited about their work

[Lioness_UTV]

Great research and info. Three theories popped into my mind that it could be one of or a combination of;
1) seismic activity pending
2) temperature change forcing them in to the area
3) current shifted, following food sources like plankton as they changed their typical path and the current shift is either a temporary occurrence or longer-term (hopefully not).

[simjo]

So, what do they eat? A question posed without any answer. Great job, OPB!

[azarahwagner]

😂😂😂😂😂😂
Humans : “ I have never seen this before so this is strange “ .
Also humans: “ we don’t even know a tenth of what is in the oceans “
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[fueymanchoo]

To quote one of my favorite philosophers: "Rut row Raggy, ree-ar rucked."

[johnnyblaze]

Not a specialist, thought of the ocean’s Immune system?? Cleaning micro organisms? We never seen it cause the ocean hasn’t been as polluted? 🧐

[sitindogmas]

the world is ever changing, it always will, wether we're here or not

[alloettegentille]

Scottie, "I don't know what to make of them Captain, but I'm afraid of them getting into the engines..."
"Well why won't the dolphins eat them Spock?"
Spock, "Could be they do not want to upset the food chain, they may instinctively know something is out of balance and refrain."

[huntresswildwood]

I’m astonished that “scientists “ do not consider the milankovich cycles when talking about climate change, and fluctuating ocean temperatures.

Precession is a 26, 000 year cycle. Where precisely are we in that cycle? Is that possible to measure? Without actually knowing one can infer that as the angle of our earth’s pole changes, the level of more intense sunlight in certain areas would also change, thus changing the climate.

NASA had an article out about precession being the main cause of glaciation and deglaciation. And in fact Antarctica has an increase in glaciation presently. But the establishment is solely focused on the ice that broke off. It’s not at all surprising that newly formed ice could also break in the process of increasing glaciation. But the establishment will deny this so they can claim that any climactic changes are anthropogenic. So they can guilt tax the people.

[CreativeSoul]

Wow! We are continuously learning STILL!

[madalenadacruz]

I saw these at the Charlestown breachway in Mass last summer when paddle boarding in the shallows. I asked my friend who frequented the area what the see through intestine looking things were. Now I know pyrosomes. Thanks for the info.

[roxannee]

I recall being told that long before man, dead lichen piled up and thats what started soil or something like this so this may be similar, perhaps it is the build up of their bodies/nutrients that is needed to collecet on the seabed or at least it IS collecting there and that means there will be an abundance of a certain nutrient or mineral and that will allow for something new to grow there or new wildlife to form maybe. It will be interesting to monitor the bed there over the years.

[Smiley-fvzi]

If they getting inside fish will people begin to consume them, accidentally? If so are they safe to eat?

[Shelly-mt]

Next we'll be seeing them in the seafood section, exotic ocean fish, my mom has said about 15 years ago, tilapia came on the market, and it wasn't around in stores, never even heard of it and suddenly it's in the grocery stores, selling like hotcakes, so you never know.

[SumNumber]

Pyrosome pizza ? Pyrosome Ice Cream ? Are they edible ? Peanut Butter and Pyrosome samich ? :O)

[lizkeith]

the floors of the oceans are waking up, cracking open, from the "energy" waves out of the sun. the closer we get to the sun's cyclical maximum, the more unusual "stuff" we're going to see.

[xanderz]

This is usually a precursor to seismic activity.