Thousands Of These Bizarre Blue Animals Wash Up Along California Shores Monterey Bay is quite a spectacular sight right now, as parts are littered with thousands of electric blue, glass-like sea creatures that have been swept ashore by the wind. These bizarre cnidarians (a diverse phylum of animals including corals and jellyfish) are called Velella velella and they’re normally found floating on the surface of warm and temperate oceans. Beach goers are treading carefully along the coast, but they’re not dangerous and their sting isn’t harmful. Image credit: Velela, via Wikimedia Commons. These organisms have a flat, transparent float and an erect triangular sail that lets them take advantage of the wind. Image credit: Wilson44691, via Wikimedia Commons. Furthermore, Mooi says that while the sheer number drying up and dying on the beaches may seem alarming, there’s a huge number of velellas scattered across our oceans, so this event isn’t going to harm the species. Velella washed ashore back in 2004. [Via LA Times, Mercury News and abc30]
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