Alan...

A co-worker of mine read your inquiry about the jelly you and your wife saw
on Whidbey. We regularly see them here too. Sounds like a jelly often
confused with Cyanea capillata, but by the color description it's probably
Phacellophora camschatica. I call them "egg yoke jellies." Sea blubber
seems to be used as a common name for both species.

An ID book I often use that has a photo of this jelly is the Guide to
Marine Invertebrates by Daniel W. Gotshall, Sea Challengers Publishers. I
like many of the books in the Sea Challengers Series. ISBN # on this book
is 0-930118-19-7.

Hope this helps.

Anne Murphy
Port Townsend Marine Science Center