CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you've been to a Carolina beach lately, you might've seen some tiny little blobs on the shore.
They look like they could be related to jellyfish but they're actually more closely related to humans, according to wildlife experts. Kill Devil Hills Ocean Rescue posted a photo on Facebook of these little blobs, called salps.
Experts say the salps, which are about the size of a human fingernail, are washing up on shore because of phytoplankton blooms, which are their primary food source. They're completely harmless to humans, and believe it or not, their body structure makes them more similar to people than jellyfish.
“Although salps appear similar to jellyfish because of their simple body form and planktonic behavior, they are chordates: animals with dorsal nerve cords, related to vertebrates, animals with backbones. This means they are more closely related to humans than jellyfish,” Kill Devil Hills Ocean Rescue said on Facebook.