Judy & Tweets,

These blue critters are "By-the-wind Sailors", Velella velella, a type
of pelagic colonial jellyfish, not unlike a Portuguese Man-of-war, but
without the big sting. Their sail is set so that they sail at an angle
to the wind ("by the wind"), but they still wind up in numbers on the
beaches this time of year. Interestingly, they come in left- and
right-handed versions, to sail on opposite tacks, as it were.

Eric Kraig
Olympia, WA
mailto:kraige at oclc.org


"The beach was littered with something that, had the setting been a
forest, I would have called a fungus; but, since this was the ocean
beach, it must be some kind of sea critter. I am calling them "T" ovals
until I learn their identity. The fresh ones were purple and the dry
ones completely clear. The base is an oval with concentric oval
"growth" lines (?) and perpendicular to the base is a like oval situated
cross-wise at the middle of the base, making the "T" shape. Sizes
ranged from very small up to about 3 inches in length. What are they,
Tweets?

Judy Rowe Taylor
Mukilteo, WA"