Strange gelatinous sea creatures wash up on Washington coast

A colony of individuals of an independent species called salp, many times more developed than jellyfish and more closely related to vertebrates.

Fisherman in Washington state are spotting an odd creature washing up on their shores. It's a translucent glob known as a salp, jelly-fish like creatures about the size of a deflated balloon. Sometimes they swim on their own, sometimes they swim in a chain formation, and they've been known to show up in very large numbers.

Fisherman in Washington state are spotting an odd creature washing up on their shores.

It's a translucent glob known as a salp, jelly-fish like creatures about the size of a deflated balloon. Sometimes they swim on their own, sometimes they swim in a chain formation, and they've been known to show up in very large numbers.

Last year off the coast of California, there were so many salps that they clogged pipes and shut down the Diablo canyon nuclear power plant.

Marine biologist Pat Krug joins the show to tell us more about these mysterious creatures.