Another weird beach blob

Following our recent articles on weird beach finds comes another picture from a beach goer, this time of an ornately-decorated, calamari-seaweed-like blob.

Found on northern bay beaches in the last few weeks, according to Phillip Island’s nature educator Mike Cleeland it’s another colonial ascidean, likely a species of botrylloides.

“Each one of those dots is an animal, they all live together in the colony,” said Mike, who is education officer at Bunurong Coast Education.

Most ascidians are hermaphrodites, producing both eggs and sperm, which they release into the water to reproduce.

Seen something strange or fabulous on a local beach? Send it to advertiser@pisra.com.au and we’ll see if Mike can identify it for you.