Here to stay, sea pickles are adapting comfortably to Pacific Northwest waters
July 20 (UPI) -- Sea pickles have been invading the waters along the coast of the Pacific Northwest for a few years. Now, new research suggests the cucumber-shaped colonial jellies, called pyrosomes, are here to stay. The pickles are bioluminescent -- pyrosome translates as "fire body." Each tube-like creature is actually many creatures, a colony of multi-celled organisms call zooids. "These animals may be able to survive in colder water than we previously thought possible, but what might really be contributing to their continued presence is that the food source off of our coast is right for them," Kelly Sutherland, a marine biologist at the University of Oregon, said in a news release. Sutherland and her researcher partners believe the lack of upwelling in the ocean has made for pickle-...