washing up on Bermuda's shores.

The jellyfish, of the Portuguese Man of War variety, have been found dead along the South Shore over the past couple of weeks.

It is not unusual for the animals to be found at this time of year, but the inclement conditions are being blamed for the numbers washed ashore.

"Periodically we do get jellyfish and things like that washed up on our shores,'' said aquarist Patrick Talbot of the Aquarium, Museum and Zoo on North Shore Road.

"It depends on the current and if the winds are coming from a certain direction then we could have large numbers of jellyfish brought onto our shore.

"Portguese Man of War is actually a colony of lots of different animals living together. These animals perform different jobs, so one is responsible for making the air sac, another one has the stinging cells, another is responsible for digesting the food and they all go to make up one super-colony,'' he said.

"The stinging cells can still fire so it's not a good idea to even touch a dead Portuguese Man of War,'' he said.