Giant Black Jellyfish Stings Laguna Beach Swimmers, Creeps Out Others

People living in Southern California like to pride themselves on all the natural advantages they have. The weather is reasonable pretty much the entire year. There’s an overabundance of activities to do at any given time, and the beach is always a short ride away. Unfortunately for LA residents, however, the nearby ocean isn’t exactly the most desirable place right now after it was invaded by at least one gigantic black jellyfish that stung numerous swimmers off the coast of Laguna Beach last weekend.

Featured in the video below, the rare black jellyfish can see their arms grow to more than twenty feet long and their tentacles grow to more than eight feet long, which means they can sneak up on swimmers and deliver a hell of a sting in what feels like an instantaneous flash. Except in the cases of rare allergies, the stings aren’t deadly or particularly dangerous, but they do sting (had to!) unless the victim has some vinegar or some urine nearby to counteract the venom, according to Popular Science.

Scientists don’t know for sure where the jellyfish normally reside, but they’re confident the warmer sea temperatures are what has brought them closer to shore. In the past, they’ve invaded about once every ten years or so, and prior to this, the last confirmed sighting in Los Angeles was in 1999, though there was one in San Diego last year.

There might be a few really ugly animals and insects out there, but nothing on land even approaches the uglier sea creatures. There’s something about living under the surface that produces hideous beasts that aren’t anywhere close to photogenic. In fact, if someone could stick one of these jellyfish in a tank, it would probably be the biggest attraction at an acaquarium because people wouldn’t be able to look away, and from an objective standpoint, this isn’t even close to the worst of the worst.

Have you ever seen the Anglerfish? Creepy doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Right now, authorities in Southern California aren’t talking about closing the beach or instituting any safety precautions, but that doesn’t mean those living in the Los Angeles area and especially the Laguna Beach area (hear that Lauren Conrad?) shouldn’t take extra special precaution to be on the lookout for giant, slimy black scary objects in the water. The price for being oblivious will probably only be an afternoon of marginal pain, but seriously, who wants that? Only this asshole jellyfish.