Hooded Nudibranch

Description:

At least a dozen of these had washed up on the beach. Some were so beat up I thought they were jellyfish at first. I wonder if there was some sort of mating event or a die-off from something else that caused them all to wash up here.

This species has a clear body with internal body parts visible even when alive. Their skin looks sparkly when you look up close (see photo 2). In the third photo you can see some small, rounded cerata near the rear end, and in the last photo you can see the longest one in the front that almost looks like a horn.

Habitat:

On the beach of an area that is a peninsula at low tide and underwater at high tide, so we call the end part (labeled on the map as Frye Point) Sometimes Island. This bay is fairly protected by the land surrounding the Coast Guard hangar and Cliff Point, so it doesn't actually catch as much debris as other beaches, further confusing me as to how all these nudibranchs ended up here.