Ultra-rare purple jellyfish washes up on Aussie beach leaving people in awe of its stunning colour

BEACHGOERS were intrigued by a weird, purple umbrella-shaped “alien” blob in Australia.

Puzzled by pics of the creature on Facebook, one warned it was a “purple people-eater”, while another joked it was the “result of someone’s stash of drugs thrown into the ocean”.

The images were posted to the Byron Bay Community Board Facebook page by Jodie Clowes, who said, “Yep, it’s really PURPLE!!!”

Fellow beachgoers commented on its beauty, but one feared it “would probably kill you”.

However, Kirsty Scanlon replied that her kids had been “all over it” and it “hasn’t killed [anyone] at my house just yet.”

Others joked that it would probably taste like “port wine jelly”.

And one woman said “yuk, alien”, while assuming its impressive purple hue was attributed to “all the chemicals being used [near Byron Bay] – don’t touch it”.

This prompted Shane Drummond to comment: “Someone probably threw their stash of drugs in the ocean, this is the result.”

Another wit, Cody Prasser, joked: “It’s just a beautiful result of our marine diversity.

“Mum was red, and dad was blue – resulting in this gorgeous baby jelly”.

Plankton researcher Julian Uribe-Palomino, of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) says it’s probably a Crown Jellyfish.

He told Mail Online that the only way to double-check would be to examine it in person.

This type of jellyfish rarely drifts inshore, according to Atlas of Living Australia.