Rotting creature on South Carolina beach prompts social media debate: What is it?
A dead creature that easily fits the definition of creepy floated ashore near Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday, leading to an ongoing debate on social media: What the heck is it?
The strangely shaped corpse resembled a small fire hydrant, made of ice, cartilage and rubber.
Tom Fite got the debate started, when he posted a photo on Facebook with a request: “Not sure what this thing is, any help?” It was found on Folly Beach, about 10 miles south of Charleston, he told McClatchy News.
“I truly did not know what it was, and figured someone would,” Fite said. “And these debates are fun especially during these times.”
He jokingly told McClatchy News that it “looked like a cute little dude from Roswell,” a reference to the flying saucer sightings of the 1940s that History.com calls “America’s most infamous UFO incident.”
His photo was shared Tuesday with the 32,000 members of the I Love Folly Beach SC Facebook group, which offered plenty of guesses, both serious and sarcastic.
One person said it was whale phlegm, another identified it as a lost breast implant and a few people suggested it was alien in origin. However, Fite says the consensus appears to be that it was likely a cannonball jelly fish. But it looked more alien than earthly due to being partially eaten.
Cannonball jellyfish resemble a mushroom, growing to about 6 inches tall and 7 inches wide, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
“The venom of the cannonball can give a mild sting...(but) a mild sting on the skin will be a very strong sting if the nematocysts get into your eyes,” Beachhunter.net reports.
“The Cannonball Jellyfish is considered a delicacy in Japan, but ... the ones washed up on the beach should not be eaten because once they are beached they decompose rapidly,” the site says.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Rotting creature on South Carolina beach prompts social media debate: What is it?."