California’s Monterey Bay is looking spectacular right now as thousands of beautiful, blue, glass-like sea creatures have washed up on the beach. The jellyfish-like transparent creatures – Velella velella – normally float on the surface of the Pacific and move by using the triangular part of their bodies as sails. Unlike their jellyfish cousins, their sting is harmless.
This is the first time they’ve washed up on shore in the area in around eight years. They’re not dying off, though: the vellellas are known to bloom and wash ashore usually in early spring. Although doing so this late in the year is “a little bit out of whack,” a marine expert said that it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is something wrong with the ocean.
(photo: Bettina)
