The corpses are washing up by the thousands on Southern California’s beaches: a transparent ringed oval like a giant thumbprint 2 to 3 inches long, with a sail-like fin running diagonally down the length of the body. Explore the section These intriguing creatures are Velella velella, known also as by-the-wind sailors or, in marine biology circles, “the zooplankton so nice …
An April 2023 image shows the sunset illuminating a by-the-wind sailor in Huntington Beach. The creatures began arriving at Bay Area beaches recently and are expected in Southern California within months. Strange springtime visitors — gelatinous sea creatures known as by-the-wind sailors, or Velella velellas— are arriving by the thousands on Bay Area beaches. “By kind of random luck, if …
