After a winter spoiled by small waves and heavy rains, beach-goers aren’t too stoked about this summer’s jellyfish invasion.

Jellies of every size and color have crowded Southern California’s coast since late June, making it difficult for beach visitors to enjoy otherwise pristine days at the beach.

“I went down to Silver Strand Beach with some of my friends, and one of them stepped on one that was lying on the beach,” said Fullerton resident Renee Smith, who frequents Newport Beach. “There were jellyfish everywhere; the sand was totally covered.”

Among the swarms of caustic summer visitors, is one species of jellyfish that is rarely spotted by beach goers or divers, said Michael Howard, senior aquarist for Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific.

“There are two species of jellyfish we are seeing right now along the coast,” Howard said. “The first species we are seeing is the Purple-Striped Jellyfish, which we see every year. The second is the Black Jellies, which I estimate have been seen in coastal waters maybe 10 times in the past century.”

Howard said the Black Jellies are no more dangerous than the Purple-Striped Jellies, but strong onshore currents tear them apart, leaving blankets of tentacles that create a hazard for swimmers and surfers.

“The jellyfish can’t sting you through your wetsuit, but if there were tentacles floating in the water and you got one down your neck, it would give you a pretty bad sting,” Howard said.

Even the Purple-Striped Jellies, which are regulars to the Southern California coast, have been hard to avoid this summer simply because there are so many in the water.

The reason for the mass invasion is still unclear, but Howard has his own theories.

“This winter was very wet and we had a lot of rain and a lot of runoff which brought organic nutrients to the surface,” Howard said. “If there is more organic material in the water, the jellies are going to grow rapidly.”

Brett Auer, a Newport Beach lifeguard, said he has treated over 200 stings this summer alone.

“When the jellyfish first came in there were hundreds all over the beach. One day I treated 60 or 70 stings,” Auer said. “Tourists by the pier usually get stung the most because they just don’t know [about the jellyfish].”

Howard said the best thing to do in order to avoid getting stung is to simply not touch the creatures, even if they have been dead for a long period of time

“The stinging mechanism looks like a little harpoon. It triggers based on mechanical stimulation. So it’s not the jellies that are causing the harpoon to release it’s the individual brushing up against it,” Howard said, adding that there is no one reaction to a jellyfish sting.

“People have different reactions to jellyfish stings,” Howard said. “For me, it’s just a mild irritation but I had a mother call in the other day and tell me that her son still has irritation from a sting he received two weeks ago.”

Lifeguards, like Auer, suggest treating jellyfish stings with a spray bottle of vinegar, but say the old-fashioned urine treatment will work just fine.