A beachgoer has been left mystified after encountering a tiny ‘alien-like’ creature hiding in the sand.
The man was enjoying a day in the sun in Darwin when he looked down to find the blue sea animal lying on the sand.
He posted a photo to Reddit calling for identification of the ‘sea thing’.
The photo shows short, bright tentacles that can be seen around the creature’s body with a prism of shiny skin shining in its center.
And this piqued people’s curiosity.
“I’ve noticed all the responses are pretty Aussie – ‘not sure mate but definitely don’t touch it’.”
“I’ve never seen a creature like this before. It’s usually the big tides and storms that bring out the interesting stuff,” said another.
A beachgoer was left mystified after encountering an ‘alien-like’ creature hiding in the sand
The creature was eventually identified as a blue button jellyfish, a marine organism made up of a colony of hydroids.
While the blue button sting is not fatal to humans and can only cause dermatitis, the jellyfish is extremely poisonous to dogs and can result in ‘violent’ symptoms.
Tropical climates, strong tides and strong coastal winds wash countless numbers of them onto Australian beaches every summer.
Several people responded with wild speculation about jelly fish.
“It looks like a mermaid coin,” said one, while another claimed it looked like “Poseidon’s monocle.”
“Looks like one of those maze toys with ball holders,” said another.
One terrified tourist said: “If I’m in Australia and I see something like this, I’m leaving the beach.”
“It might be a Darwin Man o’ war, but I’ve never seen anything like it before,” wrote one.
Small jelly fish grow up to three centimeters in diameter (across).
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