This fascinating ocean traveler, more formally known as the Vellela, is a ‘cosmopolitan free floating hydrozoan’ that lives on the surface of the open ocean. In biogeography, ‘cosmopolitan’ refers to a range of taxon that extends across most of the world. 

This is a member of the Cnidaria phylum (making it very ancient – some 580 million years old) which includes other members such as jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals – animals with a gelatinous body and ejectable flagella to sting and capture prey.

All that to say…. They are a fascinating, floating community that sails the ocean blue, being very much blue themselves. This color helps them camouflage against the sky from sea animals looking up from below the ocean surface. Their ‘sail’ projects straight up from their body, allowing it to catch the wind. They are similar to the more well known Portuguese Man of War, another ocean sailor. While the stings of their blue hanging tentacles are effective for feeding on zooplankton, they are generally harmless to humans. Each sailor is actually composed of a colony of organisms that share a digestive system. All of the polyps of an individual sailor are all male or all female. They reproduce asexually, cloning themselves and sending out little buds.

All the science aside…. To me, these are enchanting and ethereal little creatures from which tales of enchantment, wonder and a sense of the extraordinary come. Nature is incredible.