A Plant? An Animal? What is This Washing Up on Louisiana Beaches?

If you were to make a list of “things that have washed up on a Louisiana beach” you’d have quite a collection of different things. Sure, there are some things you’d expect to find washed up on the sand. You know, some shells, a crab, maybe some seaweed. And in Louisiana’s case, you can’t rule out a diaper, some trash, and maybe some medical waste too.

But for the most part, we can identify the stuff, either natural or manmade, that shows up on the sand with the exception of the stuff you see pictured below.

Not only is this stuff washing up on beaches in Louisiana but folks around Galveston have been reporting a lot of it. There are also reports of this “stuff” washing up on the beaches near Biloxi in Mississippi and Orange Beach in Alabama. And that naturally leads to this question. What is it? Is it a plant? Is it an animal? Can it hurt me?

We are not the only ones wondering about the “stuff” and here’s your answer.

Now if we could just get some pastrami, some rye bread, and some Russian dressing to wash up on the beach we could have Reuben Sandwiches. But something tells me this “sauerkraut” would be harder to eat than the real sauerkraut that most of us avoid at all costs anyway.

The plant-like stuff is actually a creature. It’s called Sauerkraut Bryozoa. It’s an invertebrate animal that feeds on plankton. No, it can’t hurt you. But, it can be uncomfortable to step on and it can certainly foul a fishing line.

Experts in the ocean creatures say the “sudden” appearance of the Sauerkraut Bryozoa is not unexpected. It happens almost every summer and beachgoers should expect to see more of it over the next week or two, then its appearances along your favorite beaches will fade like the lingering daylight of a late summer day.