Throughout the month of April, thousands of bizarre, iridescent sea creatures have been washing up on beaches all over California.
According to California State Parks, the creatures are Velella velella, also referred to as by-the-wind-sailors. They are small, coin-sized creatures with blue-green coloring and a transparent protrusion in the style of a sail.
California beach covered with Velella velella
They are built similarly to jellyfish, but instead of a bell, they have a little sail that helps to explain both their name and their migratory tendencies.
Though they typically live far offshore, California beachgoers recently reported seeing thousands of the Velella velella along the shoreline.
Their sails also help to explain it. They can be pushed up onto the coast when the conditions are just right, as with recent storms, because they fully depend on the wind and ocean currents to move about.
Once they leave the protection of ocean waters and die on land, they also lose their stunning blue color, usually turning grayish or transparent.
Furthermore, without an exoskeleton to support their shape, they shrivel up to resemble plastic.
Beautifully colored sea slugs and a particular variety of predatory snail are among their main predators.
The education and collections curator at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, California, marine biologist Julianne Kalman Passarelli, discussed the enigmatic blobby men with NPR.
The alternating of generations that hydrozoans practice makes them extremely peculiar.
This is how they procreate. Additionally, they alternate between the polyp, colonial polyp, and medusa stages.
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Stunning Organisms with a Chitin Sail
Animals live in a colony called [the Velella velella]. And if you look very closely, you can see that the small, downward-pointing objects that resemble tentacles are actually distinct species that are part of the same colony.
They all cooperate with one another, much like coral, and they each provide a unique function.
One is used for defense, one is used for feeding, and one is used for reproduction.
The top of the sail has a plastic-like texture to it. It is fairly thick. Chitin is indeed present there.
And crustaceans’ exoskeletons contain the same substance. Because they are cnidarians, they are notoriously tough and protective, so you should avoid picking them up and touching them.
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