Hundreds of strange blue jelly fish-like creatures are washing up along California shores

Sightings may be influenced by ocean warming linked to El Niño Southern Oscillation events

Thousands of small tentacled jellyfish-like blue creatures are reportedly washing up along the shorelines of California, including the coast of Orange County.

Dana Wharf Whale Watching, an eco tour agency, said it had seen “hundreds” of the organisms known commonly as by-the-wind sailors in the water.

These creatures, known scientifically as Velella velella, are cousins of the jellyfish, according to the national park Point Reyes National Seashore in California.

They belong to the group of animals called Cnidaria to which jellyfish and corals also belong.

Velella is a collection of polyps floating through the open ocean using a translucent “sail” which sits upright on its flat, oval body to catch the wind, the national park noted in a Facebook post last week.

The organisms are washed up on beaches during Spring and early Summer when strong winds push them ashore, scientists say.

The sail attached to their body causes the creatures to be caught up by the wind, helping them to be blown across the surface of the water.

This gives them their colloquial name “by-the-wind” sailors, the national park noted.

The creatures also have tentacles that do not sting humans but are used to gather zooplankton or fish eggs for them to eat.

Dana Wharf did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

Strong winds, such as the ones that are linked to recent storms in California, tend to push the cnidarians towards the shores, and when they are stranded on the beach, they tend to disintegrate and die.

“You may come across a fresh wash-up of Velella, tinging the stretch of shoreline blue, but if they’ve been there a while, they will look like crinkly and dry ovals of cellophane,” the Point Reyes National Seashore said.

Previous research suggests the sightings of these creatures on land may be influenced by the warming of the ocean surface linked to El Niño Southern Oscillation events that are likely becoming more intense due to climate change.