SAN DIEGO – The reports of jellyfish floating along the local coast have lifeguards saying it’s normal for this time of year and there’s nothing to worry about.

Moon jelly, a type of jellyfish found by dozens at Mission Bay during the warmer months, for some unknown reason does not sting, according to San Diego Lifeguards Sgt. Casey Owens.

Although, he warns of other jellyfish floating along the coast.

“On the oceanfront, there are purple jellyfish and black jellyfish that come in here,” said Owens. adding this type can be painful. “Those are the ones that tend to sting a little bit and hurt.”

“I thought I saw a big plastic bag in the water,” said Nick Hischman, who narrowly missed getting touched by one. “As I got closer I saw it was big jellyfish and it had tentacles about a quarter inch thick spirally down.”

Sgt. Owens warns even if they appear to be dead on the sand they can still sting.

“Wave activity can break them up into little pieces so you won’t even see the jellyfish just feel the stings,” Sgt. Owens said.

If you do get stung the affect can range from a mild irritation to severe pain which can last for a couple hours or more.

The jellyfish along the California coastline are not deadly, according to Sgt. Owens.

“There’s some very strong jellyfish in other part of the world,” said Sgt. Owens. “We don’t have that here.”

To stop the pain, Owens suggests placing the stung body part in salt water. The worst thing a victim can do is pour fresh water on it – like a shower.

“When you put fresh water on them, they just react more and start to sting and the mechanism they use to sting starts to go off,” he said.

SAN DIEGO— It could be called, one of the cutest scientific breakthroughs ever seen. For the first time ever, penguins have been conceived and hatched using artificial insemination and it all happened at SeaWorld San Diego.

They’re cute, fluffy and a first. The Magellanic penguins known to SeaWorld Staff as by numbers are the first four penguins born by artificial insemination.

SeaWorld Assistant Curator of Birds Lauren DuBois says it wasn’t easy getting the four chicks hatched.

Like with other species, it was easy getting the samples from the male penguins, but the females needed a little more effort.

“Typically we would get about .05 to point 0.1 ccs of seaman,” Dr. Justine O’Brien said. “Once we’re ready to inseminate the female we need to load it into the insemination device, which is basically a syringe with a catheter attached.”

Scientists used four females and several donors to get the best results.

Once the babies hatched in May, staff did a series of DNA tests to figure out the sex of the chicks and the paternity.

“It wasn’t quite like you’re tawdry reality show,”Dubois said. “The chicks are from the same pair, so the mother and the father are the same. The other two have two different parents so that’s also very exciting that also helps our genetic diversity.”

SeaWorld is looking to replicate this successful program with other species.

“We think this can really help save some endangered species,” DuBois said.

SAN DIEGO — The return of the dog Marilyn Monroe after a 2 1/2-year absence demonstrates the importance of implanting pets with microchips, a county Department of Animal Services spokesperson said Thursday.

Marilyn, a Pomeranian, disappeared from her Otay Ranch home when gardeners left a gate open, according to the county.

Owner Jose Barajas figured someone picked her up and took her home. But she turned up earlier this week, and Barajas claimed her Tuesday at the South County shelter in Bonita.

“It’s insane, right?” said Barajas. “Everyone is amazed.”

The county said Barajas, who now lives in Eastlake, has spread his story over the last couple days and persuaded at least one neighbor to get a pet microchipped.

“A microchip is the best way to reunite animals with their owners,” county Animal Services director Dawn Danielson said. “The chip itself is smaller than a grain of rice and getting one doesn’t hurt the animal one bit, yet it’s made all the difference in bringing hundreds of lost pets and their owners back together again.”

County Animal Services offers microchips in Bonita, San Diego and Carlsbad, and at clinics where rabies vaccinations and licenses also are available.

The next clinic is set for Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the San Diego shelter at 5480 Gaines Street.

Having a pet implanted with a microchip costs $20 and includes the registration.

SAN DIEGO – A pair of elephants strolled along the dog beach in Del Mar Tuesday.

SAN DIEGO — A man looking for recyclables in the trash in Logan Heights found a three and a half foot long Ball Python instead, which appeared to have been dumped there.

The snake was taken to the San Diego Police Department’s Central Division where animal services were called in to help.

“It was in a container of some sort and (the officer) said that there were some eggs in there which sometimes are a treat for snakes,”  said Lt. Kalani Hudson with SD County Animal Services.

Hudson speculated that the yellowish-brown snake might have been an escapee that made its way into the refuse bin in search of food, or could have been discarded accidentally after slithering unnoticed into a trash bag or garbage can at its owner’s home.

The python is in good shape and is most likely an adult.  The snakes aren’t native to California but are frequently kept as pets.

“They’re very docile, however, any sort of reptile is not for an inexperienced pet owner,” said Hudson.

The snake will be kept by Animal Services for three days.  If the owner doesn’t come forward to claim the snake, the animal may possible be put up for adoption.

“We’ll work with the Herpetological Society to make sure that they get proper placement with a home that knows how to care for him properly,” said Hudson.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – A Temecula woman is reaching out to the public Tuesday to help find her $3,000 cockatoo that was stolen right off her shoulder.

Katie Aldrich was smoking outside the Haunted Head, a pirate bar in Oceanside, Monday evening when a man in a red Ford F150 pulled up and grabbed the Salmon-crested cockatoo from her.

The man jumped into his truck and pulled away, she said.  Aldrich’s husband attempted to stop the driver, but was unsuccessful.

The cockatoo has blue around his eyes, a broken toenail and a bump on the back of his upper left shoulder.  Aldrich said the bird does not have a metal ring around his ankle.

Anyone with information about the bird should contact the Oceanside Police Department.

SAN DIEGO – A 10-month-old koala joey born at the San Diego Zoo was named Monday, zoo officials announced today.

Kirra, which means leaf in the Aboriginal language, was chosen in online voting by more than 4,000 participants, according to the zoo.

Kirra received 40 percent of the votes.

She can be viewed in a temporary exhibit until she moves into new digs later this month, the 3-acre Conrad Prebys Australian Outback. The exhibit is scheduled to open during Memorial Day weekend.

Kirra can also be viewed on the zoo’s Koala Cam.