Think you're seeing plastic on the beach? It might just be a sea creature.
Last week, while walking the beach in Marina, California (a 15-minute drive from Monterey), I couldn't help noticing the sand was covered in what appeared to be plastic. They were all the same size, clear plastic pieces with striations, and some of them were attached to purplish seashells. My best guess was that a container full of these must have fallen off the ship and the plastic pieces were making their way to shore. I stopped in at the front desk of the Sanctuary Beach Resort, where I was staying, to ask what they were—and if we should organize a beach cleanup. The staff member smiled and said he thought they were actually shells themselves. It's hard to believe since they look (and feel!) like plastic, but they really are a sea creature. After googling, I learned from this Smithsonian article that they are called Velella velella and are related to the jellyfish.
The design of these creatures is truly unique. An upright 'fin' protrudes from a flat oval pad, almost like the dorsal fin of a shark. That part is transparent, and the pad adheres to the blue shell underneath. The velella velella floats on the top of the water, and its fin actually catches the breezes to sail along. Their nickname is 'by-the-wind sailors.' Sadly, the velella velellas don't mean to beach themselves, but if a strong wind sends them towards the sand, that's where they go.
The National Park Service website for the creature says, 'As the Velella dries out on the beach, it becomes brittle and transparent, looking like a cellophane candy wrapper.' It states that you can find them at Point Reyes above San Francisco. In fact, you can find masses of these stranded sailors all the way down the west coast from British Columbia to California—and in Ireland and England's west coasts.
If you see them, you're advised not to touch them because they do have stinging tentacles. I couldn't resist picking one up when I believed it was plastic, and didn't see the tentacles, which perhaps were curled up under the purple part. The velella velellas are certainly unusual, and if you're heading to the California coast this week, you'll undoubtedly see them.
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