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Puri: Carcasses of thousands of blue button jellyfish were found along Chandrabhaga and Astarang coastline in the district .
According to Rita Jayshankar, a senior research fellow of Puri regional office of Central Marine Research Institute, it is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids found in tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. Although it looks like jellyfish, its scientific name is Porpita porpita.
It is commonly known as blue button. It lives on the surface of the sea and consists of two main parts: the float and the hydroid colony. The hard golden-brown float is round, flat and about one inch wide. The hydroid colony, which can range from bright blue turquoise to yellow, resembles tentacles like those of the jellyfish. Experts say the aquatic species might be dying due to drastic climate change.