A potentially lethal Portuguese man o’ war also called as Man-of-war washed up on a Jersey Shore which, as per experts, is quite early in the season.

The man o’ war follows wash-ups of roughly a half dozen dangerous box jellyfish in northern Ocean County and a box jelly in the Manasquan River this past fall.

As per experts the box jellyfish are rarely found in New Jersey. They might have travelled with the Gulf Stream north and a storm or winds may have steered them towards the Jersey Shore.

Paul Bologna, director of Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences Program at Montclair State University, said, “They're very, very dangerous, very painful sting. In some cases, they can be life threatening”.

Experts said it is easier to see the brilliant colors of the creature against the white sand, but it is tougher to spot the color in the water.

Bologna recommended that people need to be aware of their surroundings as these jellyfish-like creatures might soon end up on the surface. One should be able to see the purplish jellyfish floating if one is in water.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the creature has a pink or purple gas-filled float and numerous, long tentacles. Its float grows up to 6 inches and the tentacles grow 10 to 30 feet long.

The jellyfish move by floating on the surface, with the float blown by the wind. Some of them are ‘right handed’, drifting at a 45-degree angle to the wind. Others are ‘left handed’, drifting 45-degrees to the left of the wind, according to NOAA.