Sail and all

  

I'll write more about this soon, but for now I'm sharing a photo of a Surfbird (Calidris virgata) eating a By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella).  Photographed on Bodega Head on 21 March 2026.

Sailing into August?

  

Just a quick note that there are lots of very large By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) washing ashore right now.  Many are in the range of 7-10 cm long.  Photo from 30 July 2025.

At the larger end

  

Quick shot of a large By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) washed ashore this morning (13 May 2025).  Strong west winds have pushed thousands of Velella onto local beaches recently.  Most have been smaller than this one, but I'm always keeping my eyes on the range of sizes.

Buoyant packets

  

We were doing some field surveys this morning (2 April 2025) along the rocky shore when Eric noticed these unusual compacted packets of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) floating in tidepools.

He recognized what was going on right away (and there's a hint in the photo above), but it's likely this only happens under rare circumstances.

Here's another photo with an even stronger hint:

 

 

Giant Green Sea Anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) have been feeding on By-the-wind Sailors...and there have been so many of them recently that the anemones are expelling large packets filled with the indigestible parts of Velella.

 

The basic idea — an anemone swallows lots of Velella, digests what it can, and then expels the leftover bits from its mouth in a dense ball (like an owl pellet) surrounded by mucous.

 

Here's a photo just before the Velella packet is expelled:

 

 

 

Today was a blustery spring day with strong northwest winds.  Because these packets of Velella float at the surface, there were often clusters of them at the downwind ends of tidepools (especially in pools with good numbers of anemones):

 

 

With thanks to Eric for noticing and documenting this interesting phenomenon!

Land Ho!

  

You might have heard or noticed that there have been a lot of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) washing ashore on local beaches recently.  Here's a photo from Bodega Head today, 31 March 2025.

Numbers of Velella vary from year to year, but this is a relatively common phenomenon during the spring, especially when there are strong west winds.

Sometimes when there are lots of Velella, there could be other species from farther offshore mixed in with them, so I often take a closer look to see if anything else stands out.

Interestingly, when I was looking at one Velella that was still floating, it looked like there was something on the "deck" (the skirt or mantle):

 

 

And with an even closer view, I realized what it was:

 

 

 

What?  Stuart Little with a spyglass!

 

 

 

Well, just kidding...Happy April Fools' Day!  

 

I couldn't resist documenting the recent Velella strandings, and it's also fun to think about all of the little By-the-wind Sailors out on the open ocean.

 

Blue drift lines

  

Looking north along Salmon Creek Beach, with drift lines of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella).  There were so many Velella washed up tonight (14 March 20205), the beach looked blue as far as you could see. Here are a couple more views showing the high densities of Velella:

 

 

 

You can probably see that there were a variety sizes, anywhere from ~1 mm long to 70 mm long.  Below, a photo of small-medium Velella:

 

 

 

And, a couple of tiny (hard-to-see!) Velella. The first is at the end of Eric's fingertip for scale:

 

 

And the next one is so small its sail is barely visible:

 

 

If you've been to the beach lately, I'm guessing you're seeing Velella, too?

P.S.  For an introduction to Velella, see "Below the water line" on 18 March 2014.

On sail?

  

Thousands of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) were washed up on the beach tonight (21 March 2024), and this time they were much larger.  We measured some that were ~8-9 cm long.  

With south/southwest/west winds coming during the next couple of days, we could see even more Velella in drift lines on local beaches.

Cloudy with a chance of sailors

  

Eric and I did a quick beach survey at the end of the day today as the storm was letting up.  There were thousands of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) washed up.  Some were up to ~3-4 cm long, but the vast majority were under 1 cm long and the most abundant size was only ~1-2 mm long (second photo below with millimeter ruler):

 

 

 

 

We also found one Purple Sea Snail (Janthina umbilicata), hundreds of swimming bells of the siphonophore Diphyes dispar, one pyrosome (I thought there might be more today), and pieces of driftwood with pelagic barnacles (Lepas sp.).

 

The view as rain showers were clearing:

 

 

 

Stranded sailor

  

Quick record shot of a By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) washed ashore today, 4 November 2023.  This one was ~2 cm long.  

Sailor at sea

  

By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) during the offshore boat trip on 7 May 2023.  We encountered quite a few convergence zones with lots of Velella sailing over smooth seas.  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Sailors on the beach

 

 

A quick shot of a By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) washed ashore in Bodega Bay on 2 April 2023.  These Velella were relatively small, most were less than 1 cm long.  Have you been seeing them on the beaches recently? 

A button!

  

Wow!  Was I surprised to see this little "button" in the intertidal zone today (1 November 2021).  We're doing some field work in the San Diego area, and I looked down to see this Blue Button (Porpita porpita) among the rocks.  I've always wanted to see this species, and this is my first!  

Blue Buttons are pelagic colonial hydrozoans related to By-the-Wind Sailors (Velella velella), and like Velella they're blue when alive (see link to photos below).  But when the animal has died the floats that are left behind are a silvery transparent color.

Having a more tropical distribution, I didn't know Blue Buttons could be observed in California, but there are at least half a dozen records in iNaturalist from about Oxnard (Los Angeles area) down to San Diego.

Here's another photo on a rock:

 

 

For a nice photo of a living Blue Button, see this NOAA Ocean Explorer web page.  And here's another beauty taken by David Liittschwager.

Now if only I could find a live one!

Cast ashore

Spring winds pushed some gelatinous animals on shore yesterday.  Here are some examples, shown in order from the animals we encountered most frequently to those that were less common during a walk on Salmon Creek Beach on 19 March 2021:

 

 

Giant Bell Jelly (Scrippsia pacifica)

 

 

 

By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) — most of these were small, only ~5-6 mm long

 

 

 

 

Nectophore of the siphonophore, Hippopodius hippopus

 

 

 

 

Comb jelly, or sea gooseberry (Pleurobrachia bachei)

 

 

 

 

Moon jelly (Aurelia sp.)

 

First of spring

  

Today (20 February 2021) we encountered our first By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) of the spring.  Hundreds of Velella were washed ashore on Salmon Creek Beach, although most were very small (even smaller than the one shown here, which is ~15 mm long).

Along with Velella, we saw a handful of different pelagic species, so watch for other wash-ashores during the next few days.

Summer sailing

 

Yesterday (11 July 2020) we noticed a few By-the-Wind Sailors (Velella velella) washed up on the beach.  There weren't a lot (maybe 40-50 or so), and most of them were relatively small (under 4 cm long), but it's been a while since we've seen any, so it seemed worth recording.

Spring things

You know it's spring in Bodega Bay when — 

Large numbers of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) wash ashore:

 

At 7 a.m., the wind is already blowing 20-25 mph with higher gusts:

 

You're trying to do field work in the foam!

 

Hold on to your hat!

It's been a while

 

It's been a while, but tonight (23 March 2019) we noticed our first By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) of 2019 washed up on the beach.  Most were no longer alive and colorless (like the one shown above), but one was still blue.  They were all ~3 cm (~1 inch) long.

Blue and purple

Just a quick note about a couple of recent observations:

 

There were thousands of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) washed up on Salmon Creek Beach on 16 March 2018.  Most were between 10-20 mm long (those are millimeter marks on the ruler in the photo), but many were smaller than that.  With a storm coming mid-week, there might be more Velella washed ashore.

We also spotted a few Purple Sea Snails (Janthina umbilicata) on 16 March 2018:

 

Although we haven't seen many Purple Sea Snails during 2017-2018, we remain curious about what oceanographic conditions are driving these pelagic snails onshore two years after an El Niño event (with which their appearances here are more often associated).

 

Visitors from offshore

 

Remember these snails?  This is a Purple Sea Snail (Janthina umbilicata).  I wasn't expecting to see them right now, but I found a few while doing a survey on Salmon Creek Beach tonight (25 January 2018). [Those are millimeter marks on the ruler, so the snail was ~10 mm across.]

During the 2015-2016 El Nino, many Purple Sea Snails washed ashore in Bodega Bay.  I wrote a post introducing this species on 20 January 2016 — click here to review that summary (including a nice video!).

Purple Sea Snails are often associated with By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella).  Sure enough, there was a handful of Velella washed up today.  Here's one:

 

I'd be very interested in hearing about any other Purple Sea Snail sightings.  So if you see one, take a picture, and let me know!

 

Among the sailors

Here's one from the archives.  It was taken on Salmon Creek Beach in May 2006:

 

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) and By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella)