Newport Harbor hosts ‘ghosts’

Andrew Edwards

Propelled by Pacific currents, a multitude of jellyfish have made

their way into Newport Harbor, a destination the aquatic visitors are

not likely to leave.

The translucent moon jellyfish could be seen floating in the Rhine

Channel’s greenish waters Tuesday. The small clear-white animals,

swimming around the boats that lined the waterway, were only a

fraction of the jellyfish that could be seen when the creatures first

arrived last week.

“Last week, they were floating around the back in a super-thick

cloud,” Dylan Louros of Huntington Beach said, while waxing a boat

docked at Rhine Channel.

It was “kind of like that movie, ‘Finding Nemo,’” he added,

referring to an animated film that contained a scene loaded with

jellyfish.

Tuesday, the remaining jellyfish looked “like ghosts in the

water,” as described by Newport Beach resident Thomas Bogovich, who

was working with Louros.

Jellyfish are not unknown in Newport Harbor. A previous arrival of

moon jellyfish to Rhine Channel is only one example of an earlier

visit.

On the Lido Peninsula side of the channel, Susie Smith, owner of

Makin Waves Salon, has had a waterfront view of the pulsating

swimmers since they arrived.

“A lot of people bring their kids out to see them,” Smith said.

“They’re just amazing little creatures, don’t you think?”

The jellyfish were likely traveling with ocean currents when a

high tide pushed them into the harbor, Orange Coast College marine

biologist Dennis Kelly said. For jellyfish that drift into the Rhine

Channel, the tides are too strong to give the animals a chance to

make it back to the ocean.

“There’s no way they’re ever going to get out of there,” Kelly

said.

Moon jellyfish can sting their prey, but cannot injure people,

Kelly said.

The jellyfish in the harbor are nearing the end of their lives,

Kelly said. Confined in small waterways like Rhine Channel, it’s only

a matter of time until the animals run out of food and oxygen. Time

to give the jellyfish a look may be running out.

“If you haven’t seen them in the wild, this is the chance to do

so,” Kelly said.