Wrecked
These beached jellyfish relatives—called Velella—normally inhabit the open ocean, using strands of stingers to snag tiny animals. They exhibit two different body types depending on where they are in their life cycle.
Pictures: Billions of Blue Jellyfish Wash Up on American Beaches
The animals known as "by-the-wind sailors" stay out on the open ocean—until the winds change.
In recent weeks, about a billion jellyfish-like "purple sailors" have washed up on West coast beaches of the United States. The animals—known as "by-the-wind sailors" or Velella velella—founder on the shore and pile up like a carpet of deflated blue and purple balloons.
The jellies started washing up on Oregon and Washington State beaches four to six weeks ago, says Kevin Raskoff, a marine biologist at Monterey Peninsula College in central California. Then they started showing up in California.
The animals usually float on the surface in the open ocean, riding wind and water currents in search of food using a hardened, triangular "sail." But in years when the wind changes direction, they are pushed toward shore—and almost certain death.
