Hundreds of unidentified sea creature where found along the shore of Crystal Cove State Beach on Saturday October 10, 2014. The bodies resembled a sea cucumber with spikes all around, but they were transparent and felt hard like they were made of silicone. The cylindrical body was hollow with an opening on one end, look ing somewhat like a sponge.
There were also a large number of “by-the-wind sailors,” washed on to the shore amongst the unidentified creature. The scientific name is Velella velella, and they’re jelly-like creatures, but they’re not exactly jellyfish. They havea clear, distinctive fin sticking up from a blue, oval body no larger than the palm of a hand. Every now and then, the currents and the winds will change and these guys will, instead of being pushed out to sea, they actually wind up on the beach.
By-the-wind sailors do sting to catch their food, but humans need not worry.That sting is not very potent. It’s nothing that could actually get through my skin. Velella velella feeds on plankton and fish eggs caught with tentacles that hang down from its jelly-like body. The creatures float on top of the ocean with their fins sticking straight up, leaving them at the mercy of the wind and the current.
Out at sea, they look like bubbles on the surface of the ocean until you get up on them. They don’t live long on the shore, causing their deep blue color to fade until their clear, tougher fins are all that’s left behind.
Are these unidentified creatures animals or plants? The El Nino conditions are causing many out of the ordinary sightings in the sea and along the shorelines.
Does anyone know what these creatures are??
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