Beachgoers out enjoying the balmy weather this weekend across Southern California came across a curious sight – thousands of shriveled jellyfish-looking sea creatures washed up on the shoreline.
Blue beauties in the water, their scientific name is Velella velella and they are a tropical species at the mercy of the winds and currents that push them from warmer waters, earning them the nickname by-the-wind sailors.
Naturalist, boaters, surfers and swimmers out in the ocean have been seeing them in masses out at sea for the past week, their translucent “sails” sticking up toward the sky as they bob on the water’s surface.
They have been seen at various beaches in recent days between the South Bay, Huntington Beach, Crystal Cove, San Clemente and down in San Diego.
“When they hit the shore, they start to die and dry out, turning clear, looking more like a piece of plastic than a sea creature,” Jessica Rodriguez, education and communications manager for Newport Landing & Davey’s Locker Whale Watching, wrote in a post.
Though they look like jellyfish because of their gelatinous nature, they are not, and they don’t have the sting associated with jellies, though their tentacles on the bottom can irritate the skin, she noted. They are actually a colonial organism related to the Portuguese man o’ war.
The sea creatures are not always around, but powerful spring storms often push them to coastal waters and then onto beaches. They often show up during El Nino years, when warm water from the tropics is pushed toward California.
They are a feast for hungry Mola Mola fish who love to eat them, Rodriguez noted.
Newport Beach Chief Lifeguard Brian O’Rourke said the masses of by-the-wind sailors washed up about 3 p.m. Saturday and have stuck around on the shoreline, prompting plenty of questions from the public.
“They are all over the place,” he said. “They are thick on the beach right now. They are drying up and they kind of smell.”
One of the lifeguards sailed out to Catalina Island over the weekend and said there were many more floating out in the ocean, O’Rourke said.
Matt Wrock, of Dana Point, came across them off Salt Creek Beach while on his ocean swim on Saturday, marveling at the creatures floating on the surface.
He saw them last year dead on shore, when they washed up in large qualities in mid-April, but this was the first time he’d seen them alive out in the ocean.
“When they are in the water, they are alive. Apparently they can give you a gentle sting, but I didn’t sense that at all,” he said. “They are totally neat looking, they are so odd.
“They are so beautiful,” he added. “It was such a beautiful day, the sun shining through their sails. It was pretty cool.”