Those Little Clear Blobs Washing Up On The Beach

The salps (salpae, or salpa) are back and washing up on the beaches. Not in huge numbers yet. One year they were so thick in the surf your lines would get coated up with them and make it all the way to your reel. It was slimy and then dried up and crusty. Especially with braided line. You will catch them when you are scooping up sand fleas.

Salps are planktonic tunicates, that means they basically float around, live in the top of the water column and filer feed. They pump water through their systems to feed on plankton and use the water for propulsion. Salps have the most proficient water propulsion system in the animal kingdom.

I’m just waiting for the Man o Wars to start washing up again. It has been happening more and more each year.