Striking blue sea creatures, Velella velella, have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches including at Seaside, Manzanita, Astoria and Rockaway Beach in recent days, tourism officials report.

The small jellyfish-like animals normally live out at sea, floating on its surface. But every spring, thousands get blown by strong westerly winds onto the sands of Oregon, California and Washington and die, said Bill Hanshumaker, a senior instructor at the Hatfield Marine Science Center and chief scientist for Oregon Sea Grant.

When strong westerly winds blow over the Pacific coastline, Velella velella are swept by the thousands onto beaches including those at Seaside and Manzanita. They are often called By-the-wind Sailors, because they have their own small sails and move with the wind.

Velella velella (vuh-lell-uh vuh-lell-uh) can be beautiful to look at but start to give off a fishy smell as they decay. They don't sting people who touch them, but experts at Oregon State University advise against walking barefoot through a pile of them because they contain a mild neurotoxin.

Similarly, don't touch them then touch your eyes, Hanshumaker said.

Hanshumaker was 17 miles out to sea a few days ago and saw tens of thousands of Velella. Each is equipped with a tiny blue-tinged sail arrayed on its body such that, in normal winds, it stays out to sea, where it eats plankton and other prey.

But Velella have no way to fight the power of extra-strength winds blowing east, which is why there are now piles of them on Oregon beaches.

"They're really kind of pretty," said Terri Michel, city recorder for Rockaway Beach.

She remembers being astounded the first time she saw them lying by the thousands on the same, only to have oldtimers tell her it happens every year.

In Seaside, "they are scattered all over the beach right now," reports Michael Gann, an interpreter at the Seaside Aquarium.

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com