@mbari_news: In the spring, beaches along the west coast of the US can be covered by thousands to millions of blue jellyfish relatives called Velella velella, the by-the-wind sailors. Velella typically live on the surface of the open ocean far from shore, propelled by winds pushing on their tiny sails. Velella is best described as a hydroid colony that has flipped itself over. It is unlike a traditional jellyfish (medusa) but rather like the benthic stage of a hydroid. Instead of living attached to rocks on the bottom, its “substrate” is the ocean’s surface. These hydroid colonies bud off tiny medusae, little “jellyfish,” just like many benthic hydroids do.

15219

400

2024-03-31 06:29:59

2024-03-30 17:24:21

To see more videos from user @mbari_news, please go to the Tikwm homepage.