The beaches of Melbourne, Australia, are red with the gelatinous bodies of jellyfish.
The Guardian reports that thousands of lion’s mane jellyfish have washed up across from Port Phillip Bay in numbers not seen for the last four years.
The local city council notes that residents should exercise caution around the jellyfish lest they get stung — who could forget the Friends episode “The One with the Jellyfish”? — but otherwise says that the invasion is a natural occurrence for the season.
“We often only observe them when the tide and currents bring them to shore – that’s when we see these huge numbers,” says jellyfish expert Dr. Jonathan Lawley, who adds that members of this particular species are “not very good swimmers.”