Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
It seems that once a year or so, we get a strange sea creature that washes up on our beautiful shores. Sometimes it’s tuna crabs or red crabs, sometimes it’s a group of “sailor by the wind“, or Valella valella, sometimes it’s a giant eel-like Oarfish, or a toxic yellow-bellied sea snake, but these are new one here in Newport!
Monday and Tuesday mornings, these little guys littered sections of our beachfront at least from Newport Beach to Huntington Beach, and nobody seemed to know what they were. Upon further research, they appear to be small “burrowing sea cucumbers”. These types of sealife are very rare in general, and to have hoards of them wash ashore only happens once every few years– worldwide.
On March 16, 2008, they washed ashore in Newborough, Anglesey, in North Wales.
On November 5th of last year, they washed ashore on the Oregon Coast.
And this week, we’re getting our very own visit from these rare and weird creatures, as noted by the Newport Beach Lifeguards and countless Newporters who have written in asking what in the world these little guys are. Many people reported accidentally stepping on them during pre-dawn hours, and them having the consistency of water balloons popping beneath their feet.
Here’s a gallery of photos, with the sea cucumbers displaying their tails only while actively burrowing:
Now, these little guys aren’t harmful– they won’t bite or sting you– but lots of people are asking if they can be eaten. I have no idea, but I’m not encouraging anyone trying it for multiple reasons– they’re 60% spine, we don’t know if they’re sick or not, and they’re a rare find. You are so weird.
