Mysterious Jelly-Like Blobs Wash Ashore In Southern California

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Thousands of blue gelatinous-looking blobs have been spotted in recent days on beaches along the Southern California coast, according to reports.

These palm-sized jelly-like blobs are called by-the-wind sailors or, per their scientific name, velella velella. Disc-shaped and with a sail-like protrusion, they are actually made up of many small beings that combine to form a bigger colony and float across the ocean, driven by the currents and breeze, until they beach themselves.

They’ve been seen recently at Huntington Beach, Dana Point, Newport Beach, Oceanside, San Diego, South Bay, Crystal Cove and San Clemente, reports said.

The sailors are related to jellyfish — specifically the Man O’War — and they have attracted a large amount of sunfish, which eat many pounds of the sailors daily, according to Dana Wharf's naturalist Nona Reimer. The sailors die upon beaching themselves. They do sting, but their stings are mainly benign to humans, FOX 5 reported.

“They are all over the place,” Newport Beach Chief Lifeguard Brian O’Rourke told The Orange County Register. “They are thick on the beach right now. They are drying up and they kind of smell.”

The sailors feed on young fish and small animals, according to The Wildlife Trusts, and they typically wash up by the hundreds or thousands after winter storms.