Monday October 9, 2023
Sacramento Bee —
It was an unexpected sight for Casey Neet and his 8-year-old daughter paddleboarding in an Eldorado National Forest reservoir: Hundreds of transparent white circular blobs drifted in the serene freshwater.
Neet, who thought they might be pollen or egg sacks at first glance, told The Sacramento Bee that he leaned in closer and realized freshwater jellyfish floated alongside them.
It was a species known as peach blossom fish that have been spotted across North America but rarely in that area, said Maura Santora, an aquatic biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, who also conferred with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to make the identification on the recent finding.