11 Strangest Ocean Creatures That Washed Ashore this Year

The world's oceans seem to have managed to find its way back to the shallows regardless of its vastness, carrying with it its very distinct, even weird, organisms ashore. Live Science was able to enumerate 11 of the strange ocean creatures that washed ashore this year of 2021.

Sailor jellyfish (Velella velella)

First on the list is the Velella velella or by-the-wind sailor jellyfish that have been commonly washing up along the beaches around the world. Its light features make it easy for the wind pattern change to push colonies of them from one feeding ground to the next, including thousands and even millions. The Velella stranding event is known to be one of the most massive in terms of number, and a phenomenon known as "the blob" is to blame.

Juvenile killer whale

A young killer whale was stranded on a Scottish beach and was luckily rescued back to good health by trained medics and concerned locals. After being put in a special dolphin stretcher, the 11-foot-long whale managed to head off to the deep waters and was never seen again.

Male basking shark

A dead male, basking shark measuring 26 feet was found ashore in Bremen, Maine in January. Basking sharks are second of the largest fishes in the sea, and although they have a size of a pickup-truck, they are believed to be harmless to humans.

Twisted 'Rope Pile'

At first glance, the 'thing' looks like a yellow rope, but it is actually a type of coral known as a colorful sea whip (Leptogorgia virgulata) found in a beach in Texas. The partly-buried 'rope ball' is an actual real-life creature, but had always assumed to be garbage, such as discarded cord or part of a fishing net.

49 long-finned pilot whales

On a remote beach in New Zealand, 49 long-finned pilot whales were stranded on a February morning, where nine of the whales died during the stranding. Conservation rangers, locals and volunteers from the marine rescue group Project Jonah tended on the 40 surviving whales and led them back to deep waters away from the beach.

Also read: Australia's Great Barrier Reef May Face Another Mass Bleaching on January

Toxic tar ball

Strange balls of tar began to wash up along Israel's Mediterranean coastline, a result of an oil spill 31 miles (50 km) off the coast. Tar balls are basically small concentrated blobs of congealed oil that mixed into the seawater from due to rough sea conditions.

Amazon 'river monster' (Arapaima gigas)

A rotting dead body of an Amazon 'river monster' turned up near the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and locals are worried that the beast might become the state's latest invasive species. The arapaima is one of the world's largest freshwater fish, but doesn't reach sexual maturity until it's about 5 feet which makes it more complicated to breed them and set up a viable population of them in Florida.

Moonfish

A dazzling remains of a 100-pound moonfish washed up on an Oregon beach, surprising the beachgoers with its majestic appearance. What's more surprising is that the fish came hundreds of miles from home, typically found off the coast of California and near Hawaii, so finding one so far north is extremely rare.

Fish inside a jellyfish

A dead jellyfish was found in the U.K with an undigested fish in its translucent belly. "It's not something you see every day," according to The Daily Mail.

Female sawfish

A 16-foot-long female sawfish washed ashore in Florida. The fish broke the record of the world's largest smalltooth sawfish ever recorded, and could be one of the oldest.

Dead Minke Whale

Lastly, a carcass of a minke whale was found dead in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and locals said it had such a bad odor it was "like death in a dumpster."

Also read: Caught on Cam: Pair of Bald Eagle Eggs in Florida Expected to Hatch Soon