Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Blue Sea Creatures: Fly By the Wind and Land on the Beach

There they were, those fabulously blue and clear glass, ummm, well, what are these clumps of electric blue-see-through-kind of-jellyfish-like things on the beach???
Photo credit:  Wikipedia Commons


C. Coimbra Photo
C. Coimbra Photo
Some people call these electric blue visitors, By-the-Wind Sailors because they blow in from the middle of the Pacific Ocean where the water is warmer.  

Their real name is Velella velella and they are cnidarians (a sea-life form than includes jellyfish and coral and with out a backbone or spine). 

The last time these sailors landed on West Coast beaches was in 2006. Scientists don't know why they sometimes wash up on the beach.  They are not dangerous.  

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