Ahoy There! By-the-wind sailor!

This is the Velella velella. It's known by many names including ‘By-the-wind sailor’, ‘sea raft’, ‘purple sail’ and ‘little sail’.

While it looks like a jellyfish, it is actually a hydroid (class Hydrozoa) - so it's different from Blue bottles or Portugese Man o' War. 

'Sail jellyfish' were once thought to be a colony of hydroids, though recent evidence indicates that each individual is a single large hydroid, similar to an upside-down anemone attached to a floating base.

How it moves in the ocean

The Velella is blueish to purple with a flat oval transparent float and an erect sail projecting vertically at an angle to the axis of its body. The projection of the sail is so that the animal can take the best advantage of the wind.

The direction of the sail along the float determines which way the by-the-wind-sailor will travel. If the sail runs north-west to south-east along the float it will drift left of the wind direction, if the sail runs south-west to north-east it will drift right of the wind direction.

What it eats

It feeds on small plankton floating at or near the ocean's surface and is passive in nearly all things it does, including feeding.

Velella Velellas pose little threat to humans, but if you do decide to pick one up, be careful when touching your face and eyes afterward because they can cause slight irritation to your skin.

Velella is an off-shore animal which lives on the surface of the water. It feeds on planktonic crustaceans, primarily copepods. Known predators are limited, but include nudibranchs (sea slugs) and the violet sea snails. 

You will regularly find these interesting hydroids on the shore after storms and times of heavy onshore winds. 

Love where we live and co-exist with nature in our wildlife friendly biosphere with these tips:

• stay on the designated walkway and out of the dunes and bush
• keep your dogs on a lead and pick up after them
• bin your rubbish to keep our beautiful Sunshine Coast clean and litter free.