EMERALD ISLE, N.C. (AP) _ Police say venomous Portuguese men-o'-war have washed up on a North Carolina beach. 

• The creatures have appeared on popular beaches in the state over recent days
• Town officials say even dead ones can still sting
• More than a dozen were scattered across a beach

The creatures have appeared on popular beaches in the state over recent days. Officials in the town of Emerald Isle are warning people that even dead man-o'-war can sting. 

Emerald Isle police said Wednesday on Facebook that beachgoers shouldn't touch the stranded men-o'-war strewn on the sand. The department posted a photo showing more than a dozen of the critters scattered across several feet of shoreline. 

According to National Geographic, the Portuguese man-o'-war floats on the ocean surface and its tentacles are used to kill fish and other small prey. A men-o'-war's sting is very painful but rarely deadly to humans.