If you’re heading to the beach in Oregon or California you won’t be alone. The sands are awash with thousands of blue jellyfish-like creatures known as velella velella. The small creatures are easily blown to the shores of Oregon, California and Washington during strong winds of Spring thanks to a blue sail on the tops of their bodies. In Oregon, there are more velella velella across beaches than usual, experts say. They are covering beaches including Seaside, Manzanita, Astoria and Rockaway Beach. Since these animals are related to jellyfish, they can also sting. Velella are predators and hunt microscopic plankton on the ocean’s surface. If you touch them, you might not feel any pain in your fingers. But if you rub your eyes or touch a more sensitive part of your skin, “you’re going to feel it.” In other words, the rule is: don’t touch.
