Velella Velella or By-the-Wind Sailors are gelatinous creatures that wash up along the West Coast, and recently, they have been washing up along the North Coast, including Cayucos.
“They have that little thing that sticks up, which is sort of like a sail and they use that to essentially catch the wind to blow them around out in the open ocean,” said Benjamin Ruttenberg, Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Sciences director.
Ruttenberg told KSBY News this happens during the springtime as the wind shifts out of the northwest.
“That’s essentially the end for them," Ruttenberg said. "You know, rot, decompose, microbes, maybe some insects and other things are going to be eating what’s left of their tissue and eventually they’ll get buried in the sand.”
“We’ve seen them before but this is, I’ve never seen quite this many before, that’s for sure,” said Brian Ohde from Fresno. "If you walk through them, they’ll stick to your soles of your shoes, so I guess I do avoid them.”
Tim Dudley of Templeton says he’s also seen them before.
“I was here surfing yesterday. I checked the waves and I didn’t see any of the blue sailfish, and I heard about them being back, so I came down. I was going to surf today anyway, and I saw them all over the beach,” Dudley said.
Ruttenberg added that By-the-Wind sailors have stinging cells that are used for prey in the ocean.
“The toxins that they release from these stinging cells are generally not even sensed by humans, let alone a threat," Ruttenberg said.
He adds that it’s probably best for pets to avoid eating them, but says Velella being on the shore is all part of our regional ocean ecosystem.
