Thousands of jellyfish-like creatures known as By the Wind Sailors have washed up along the beaches of Southern California.
Marine biologists advise beachgoers to look but not touch Velella velella, as they have tentacles that can leave a small sting, although they are not considered dangerous to humans.
The creatures have a sail on their tops that allows them to be blown across the ocean, leaving them at the mercy of currents and wind.
So far, they’ve been spotted on dozens of beaches along the California coast, including Huntington Beach, Zuma Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Salt Creek Beach.
Also known as Colonial Hydroids, the By-the-Wind Sailors resemble the Portuguese Man O’War, feeding on algae and zooplankton.
Thousands of purple-colored jellyfish-like creatures called Velella velella or By-the-Wind Sailors wash up on the beaches of Southern California
“Watch out for them on the beaches,” Nona Reimer, a science teacher, said in an Instagram video. “They’ll soon wash up on the shore.”
Maritime experts say the Velella velella often appear on beaches after strong winds push them ashore. California’s recent spate of strong storms is likely a factor in their arrival this time.
On Friday, Dana Wharf Whale Watching, which operates off the coast of Dana Point, California, said they had seen “hundreds” of sailors in the water.
“Look for them on the beach,” Nona Reimer, a physics teacher, said in an Instagram video as she picked one up with her fingers. “They’ll soon wash up on the shore.”
“You may see a fresh addition of Velella, coloring the stretch of shoreline blue, but if they’ve been there for a while, they look like wrinkled and dry ovals of cellophane,” Point Reyes National Seashore posted online.
In Huntington Beach, Doug Leach, chief of the Marine Safety Battalion, said hundreds had been spotted along the shoreline.
A beachgoer snapped photos of the unusual disc-shaped sea creature
Professor Jamie Seymour said the stings of a velella, or wind-blown sailor, aren’t that strong
“We got a lot of them, most of them north of the pier, all along the high tide mark when the tide was coming down this morning,” Leach told the OC Sign in.
California has experienced wave after wave of strong winter storms, so the arrival of such unusual creatures may not come as a complete surprise.
Downwind sailors are so named because of their semicircular fins that grow to the right or to the left.
The fins guide the animal across the water whichever way the wind blows, helping the survival of the species.
‘Part of the population goes to the left, the rest to the right. When the wind blows to push everyone to the beach, half goes offshore and half goes ashore,” said toxicology professor Jamie Seymour. Yahoo News.
“Twenty to 30 years ago it would probably have been unusual to see them. Certainly not these days,” says Professor of Toxicology Jamie Seymour
The jellyfish-like creatures are each about seven to ten centimeters long, are bright blue, and are distinguished by a gas-filled float that rises above the surface of the water
The creatures have a small sail on top of their body that allows them to move around
“Twenty to 30 years ago it would probably have been unusual to see them. Certainly not nowadays.’
Between 2014 and 2016, millions may have washed up on beaches across the state.
It drew curious beachgoers to the sand to see them up close, though they are known to live in warmer tropical waters off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
The transparent creatures can grow up to 10 cm in length, but are usually smaller in size. They are part of the Cnidaria group, which includes jellyfish and corals.
Once stranded on the beach, the creatures can disintegrate and die, becoming food for birds.
The last time the ‘by-the-wind sailors’ washed up on the beaches of the west coast was in 2015/16
The creatures are not harmful to humans, but will begin to smell like fish when they decompose. Pictured is the attack as seen in 2015 in Oregon