# Blue Floating Creatures???



## onemorecast (Feb 16, 2009)

The beach yesterday was loaded with some kind of blueish floating creature from Mars. Anyone know what these things were? Just curious! My son had a ball collecting them.


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## vicious circle (Nov 30, 2007)

Baby Man o War jellyfish. they sting!!!


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Bluish, purplish floating thing is a Man O War. If your son was collecting them, they were probablynot Man O War. Maybe he got lucky though and did not get stung. Otherwise, he would have quit collecting them very quickly after the first sting. They hurt like hell.


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## David_Z (Mar 31, 2008)

There are two different types of these small blue-purple jellyfish thatI have seen in our coastal waters. They are blown in from the open oceans.They are not portuguese man-o-wars.

One type is called a blue button (porpita porpita), the other is a by-the-wind sailor (velella velella). Both are relatively harmless. I have seen them come ashore pretty thick following a persistent west wind. Follow this link and scroll down to see photos and more information:

http://www.beachhunter.net/thingstoknow/jellyfish/


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## Misn 1 (Jul 14, 2008)

Without seeing a picture of what he was collecting, I'm not sure if they were Man-of-Wars or not. But, when I went out on 12/30/08, they were everywhere. I went out of Perdido Pass (Orange Beach, AL), and sawMan-of-Warsfrom approximately 10 miles and further out. I scooped this one up with my net...


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## onemorecast (Feb 16, 2009)

David Z nailed it. By-the-wind sailors is what they are! Thanks


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## Butcherpen (Oct 8, 2007)

Looks like a Man-O-War to me.


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## xxxxxxkidsoncoffee (Apr 30, 2008)

They are definately by the wind sailors. I was out there this morning and there were hundreds of them on the beach where I was at. I didn't see any of them in the water but something was definately stinging me when I was wading out to cast.


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## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

Man o War look more like a bubble, and the "bubble' is thinner and not jelly like. 

P.S. I have been too chicken, since i was fishing and did not want to ruin my day, to test the theory, but the skin on your hands is supposed to be thick enough that the sting from a man o war, jellyfish, etc will penatrate it. Therefore, your son may have been picking something poisonous up and it just happened to not touch any other part of him.


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

yea there by the wind sailors and theres thousands of them between portifino and opal...its true ive had jelly tentacles stuck to me (stinging) and pulled them off without getting stung...now with a portugese man o war idk because they have a much stronger venom.


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## FishinFL (Sep 30, 2007)

I saw them sunday by portofino too, and i took a phone pic of one. I got hit by them a bunch while doing the sand flea dredge and never felt a thing.

Of course, it could have been the natural beer barrier protecting me...


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