Velella Velellas Storm Beaches!

After an eight-year absence Velella velellas are back, lining the beaches of Monterey Bay like, as the locals joke, “blue condoms.” I took these photos at Asilomar. Velella velellas look like jellyfish but are not harmful to humans although some people supposedly get an allegoric reaction if they touch them.

This marine invertebrate feeds on plankton. I remember in grade school that everything in the ocean ate plankton. The velella velella travels by wind. Some news reports attribute the beach landings this year to warm ocean waters but I couldn’t find an explanation of why “warmer” translates into an invasion. However, some experts say “this happens sometimes.”