Thousands of dark blue creatures have been washing ashore at beaches across the state, littering the shores and bewildering passersby from Marin to Orange county.
The oval-shaped, flat creatures with tiny blue tentacles may look like little jellyfish but are in fact hydroids called Velella velella, more commonly known as "by-the-wind sailors."
With a sturdy, transparent sail running across the top of their bodies, the marine creatures travel in large numbers at the top of the open sea, drifting with the help of winds that, most recently, have pushed thousands of them to California beaches.
