One of thousands of creatures known as “sailors in the wind” that washed up on the coast of Southern California in April.
Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
One of thousands of creatures known as “sailors in the wind” that washed up on the coast of Southern California in April.
Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The velella velellasuch a beautiful name that you have to say it twice.
Who are they? The small disc-like organisms are colonial hydrozoans, classified by the phylum of cnidaria, and their eponymous genus is Velella (not one Game of Thrones Authority to solve).
- Officially named velella velella (says five times faster) you probably know them as sailors with the wind.
- Sailors were several inches long and featured many striking shades of cobalt and sky blue when they were alive.
- They are similar in structure to jellyfish, but have a small sail protruding from their bell, which explains their name and migration pattern.
What is the big problem? California beachgoers have reported seeing thousands of velella velella along recent shores, although they often live far from shore.
- And their sails might explain it! They rely entirely on wind and currents to navigate, and when conditions are right, such as recent storms, they can be pushed ashore.
- They also lose that beautiful blue color when they leave the ocean waters and die on the shore, often becoming gray or transparent. And without an exoskeleton to hold their shape, they shrink like plastic.
- Their top predators include brightly colored sea slugs and a particular breed of predatory snail.
Want more on the oceans? Listen Check out this episode on why Antarctic ice melt is such a big problem for coastal Texas.
velella velella sitting on the sand after washing ashore.
Sasala/Getty Autumn Pictures
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Sasala/Getty Autumn Pictures
velella velella sitting on the sand after washing ashore.
Sasala/Getty Autumn Pictures
What are people saying? Marine biologist Julianne Kalman Passarelli is a collection and education manager at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, California, and spoke to NPR about the mysterious chubby guys.
About how they spawn:
Hydrozoans are really weird because they do something called generational rotation. That’s how they reproduce. And they go back and forth between the polyp stage, the colon polyp stage, and the medusa stage.
About the structure of velella velella and its ecosystem:
[The Velella velella is] an animal colony. And if you look closely, all those little things hanging down that look like tentacles are different creatures in the same colony, and they work together, like corals, and they all have a purpose. different. One is for breeding, one is for feeding, and the other is for defense.
About the structure of the sail:
If you touch the top of the sail, it will feel like plastic. It is quite thick. And actually what’s in there is chitin. And that is the same material found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans. So it’s notoriously hard and protective, but you definitely don’t want to pick them up and touch them as they are cnidarians. Their stings are not known to be as toxic as their relatives, Portuguese warrior, or even their more distant relatives jellyfish, sea nettles, the like. But they can cause irritation. I don’t recommend picking them up with your bare hands.
So what now?
- As long as the conditions are right, velella velella will continue to wash ashore, until the wind pushes them away. Guys who like to go with the flow really.
- While not every year, seeing these tiny flying saucers at sea is not the most unusual. Kalman Passarelli said: “I have lived here for more than 20 years and I have seen them at least 10 times.
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