Thousands of Jellyfish Washed Ashore

My guess is that it is not a matter of a higher percentage of jellyfish dying - but that there are more jellyfish that are thriving in the oceans which result in more that will wash up on the beaches.

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Beachgoers are tiptoeing through a stinky mess at the beach.

Thousands of jellyfish that washed ashore recently are now beginning to rot, creating a stench that's twitching noses from Mayport all the way down to St. Johns County.

"It's really smelling up the beach. And there's so many of them. And we don't know why," said Henry Cooper, who lives at the beach.

Experts say there's an unusually large amount of jellyfish this year, and they say it's all because of the weather.

"I see thousands of them. Thousands. Probably more than that. Nasty. What can you do," said Eddie Thomas, who lives at the beach.

"What you're seeing I think, is a mild winter, and then a series of storms that have blown them ashore. And then consequently, what we have is a large jelly, smelly mess down there," said Dr. Quinton White.

White, a dean at Jacksonville University in biology and marine science, says the washing up of jellyfish is a seasonal event, but it's a lot worse now than usual.

And he says it could be a combination of weather and a changing ocean.

"El Nino is something we're just beginning to get a better handle on. And with global warming and everything else going on, we're seeing ocean currents changing. So we really don't know what's going on right now," said White.

He says while it is a smelly mess now, hopefully it won't last too long.

"I have been running on the beach since 1990 and I have not noticed it. Not so bad as this year," said Cooper.

Workers will be out cleaning up as many jellyfish as possible this weekend.

White says the dead jellyfish is not a health concern. He says just don't eat them.