They’re an otherworldly sight: blue and iridescent. They have no clear eyes, mouths or body parts analogous to our own.
And rising from one side — is it their back; hard to tell — is a transparent sail, which these little seafarers use to catch the wind.
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Sightings of Velella velella, also known as “by-the-wind sailors,” have proliferated along the Bay Area coastline this week, captivating beachgoers and drawing the attention of the climate- and ocean-curious.
These compelling creatures visited our shores last year, too. But this year they seem especially abundant — to the extent that “beaches in this area appear blue from a distance because of the numbers of Velella right now,” according to Jackie Sones, research coordinator at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Reserve in Bodega Bay.
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