Fancy a dip? Chinese beach covered in blanket of green algae

Holidaymakers in Shandong Province, China, have been taking to the sea to enjoy a bit of a novelty: a mysterious thick green slime that has taken over a whole beach.

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Qingdao beach in China has become overrun with a thick, green algae which is covering its shoreline.

As the pictures show, it's no small amount, and it's not exactly something you can try and swim around because this lurid green substance appears to cover the entire beach.

While the bright green substance may look soft and fluffy, the algae can be very damaging to wildlife as it takes in a lot of oxygen, Metro reports.

This isn't the first time the algae has appeared: the green blanket first appeared after seaweed farmers changed how they cleaned their rafts in 2007, and since then paddling in the algae has become a local tradition.

Scientists have suggested that the algae grows on farmer's rafts and when the seaweed is later harvested they believe the algae moves into the sea.

According to the International Business Times the algae is thought to appear as a result of a combination of climate change and pollution.

The algae has the ability to cover as much as 13,500 square miles of the ocean.

The Weather Channel reports that the cost of cleaning up the algae each year can total as much as millions of dollars with more than 10,000 volunteers and 1,000 soldiers needed to clear the mess in 2013.