Sea Angels Have Arrived in Wildwood

Sea Angels Have Arrived in Wildwood

Kellie Hemmerly was visiting the Wildwoods beaches and found something extremely interesting.

In the water was a clear jellyfish with orange organs. After scooping out of the ocean using a clamshell, she was able to see this jellyfish try to swim using it’s fins.

Hemmerly posted the video on to Instagram stories (See a screenshot below)

For those who don’t know, these are Clione limacina, or most commonly known as a naked sea butterflies or sea angels.

These are called sea angels because the shape of their fins look like angels’ wings. Funny enough, these are more related to the slug family than jellyfish.

According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, “A sea angel is a type of swimming snail. The muscular foot found in land snails has evolved into a pair of winglike structures called parapodia that are used for swimming in open water. Sea angels have a small, transparent, gelatinous body and do not have a shell.”

These sea angels are usually found in cold deep waters as far down as 2,000 feet.

Those who have been swimming these past few days may have noticed how cold the waters have been getting.

The movement of these cold waters from far out in the ocean have brought these guys to our shores.

Just this past week states as far as Maryland have noticed an uptick in these washing up. As the cold waters keep moving through we could see more of these move into the area.

Thank you to Kellie Hemmerly for sending up the photo and the video (on Instagram)

Below is a really cool video showing you what Clione limacina look like while swimming.

 

Check out these other Wildwood Videos and Articles.

Why You See So Many Dolphins At The Jersey Shore

What Is A Rip Current And Why Are They Are So Dangerous?