A rare and striking sea creature nicknamed the “blue dragon” is washing ashore on parts of the Texas coast, and researchers say beachgoers should admire it from a distance.
The Hart Institute said it recently spotted about 20 blue dragons on a small stretch of beach.
These tiny creatures – scientifically known as Atlantic Glaucus —are tiny sea slugs floating in the high seas. They are rarely seen on shore, but when strong winds push the floating marine life toward the shore, they can wash away.
“They’re absolutely stunning — but don’t touch them,” the researchers wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Although blue dragons are beautiful, their stings can be painful.
The animals fed on Portuguese man-of-war and stored the jellyfish’s stinging cells in their bodies. Scientists say the slugs have a concentration of these cells, meaning their sting may be more painful than the battleship itself.
Even if they wash up on the sand, these animals can still sting.
The researchers said the blue dragons were found mixed in with several other high-seas drifters that had been pushed ashore by onshore winds.
Oceanographers sometimes call this group “blue waves.”
In addition to blue dragons, researchers reported seeing:
All of these creatures spend their entire lives drifting on the surface of the high seas.
Blue dragons are very small, usually only 1 to 3 centimeters long, which makes them easily overlooked among the shells, seaweed, and other marine life that washes ashore.
Researchers say if beachgoers spot it, the safest thing to do is take a photo and leave it alone.
“The ocean is truly amazing,” the institute said. “But sometimes the most beautiful creatures have thorns.”
