Story perspectives

Blue-Purple Velella Swarm Beaches Northern California, Dogs at Risk

4/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

On Monday, onshore winds after storms drove a mass of blue-to-purple Velella velella onto Northern California’s beaches.
The three- to-four-inch hydrozoans, which piled from Baker Beach to Stinson Beach and Oregon, can irritate dogs’ skin, eyes or cause gastrointestinal distress.
Strandings also happened in late March 2025, late April 2024 and mid-April 2023, after which dried remains become brittle, resemble candy wrappers, and are blown back to sea or reclaimed by the next tide.

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Story summary

On Monday, onshore winds after storms drove a mass of blue-to-purple Velella velella onto Northern California’s beaches.
The three- to-four-inch hydrozoans, which piled from Baker Beach to Stinson Beach and Oregon, can irritate dogs’ skin, eyes or cause gastrointestinal distress.
Strandings also happened in late March 2025, late April 2024 and mid-April 2023, after which dried remains become brittle, resemble candy wrappers, and are blown back to sea or reclaimed by the next tide.