By-the-wind sailors washed up on the beach
Thousands of jellyfish-like creatures have washed up on the western beaches of New Zealand's South Islandbold
According to the country's Department of Conservation (DOC), the sudden increase is likely triggered by the rising water temperatures in spring.
But it's very unusual that you have so many thousands of them washed up in one place," the DOC told the BBC.
"It's a common species around the west coast and around NZ and they do wash up, usually in the tens or hundreds," the department's marine specialist Don Neale said.
According to local media, a large number of them washed up at Cable Bay, Nelson, and at Farewell Spit in recent weeks.