Putrid smell hovers over beaches
They are blue, they smell disgusting and are all over the beaches on the west coast of the North Island.
Called by-the-wind-sailors, millions of the jellyfish-like creatures are coming ashore in Taranaki and also further down the west coast of the North Island.
Last week the blue stinkers washed up on New Plymouth’s Fitzroy Beach, nearby Oakura Beach and further south at Hawera.
Now they are all over Back Beach at New Plymouth.
The blue sea creatures have also invaded the beach at Pukerua Bay, on the Ka¯piti Coast, north of Wellington and the coast at Makara, west of Wellington, and they have hit their expiry date.
All along the coast is simmering under a putrid cloud as tens of thousands of velella start to rot.
Yesterday, at Waikanae Beach the Four Square owner Quoc Tran said the smell was ‘‘very bad’’ and wafted in his doors when he opened them.
He said the creatures seemed to wash up annually, but this year the smell was worse.
The velella might have washed away more quickly last year, Tran said.
A Ka¯piti woman, who did not wish to be named, said she drove to Waikanae Beach on Sunday and it ‘‘reeked’’.
‘‘Driving around the beach yesterday, the smell was appalling ... it smelled like rotten fish. It’s the coast of stench.’’
She said the odour stretched back several streets from the beach.
What are velella?
According to Livescience.com, the creatures are not true jellyfish, but are related to them. Unlike their jellyfish cousins, the velella don’t sting humans.
They float on the ocean surface and are blown by the wind.
A velella’s electric-blue body hangs down into the water, with stinging tentacles that capture small prey such as tiny shrimp and plankton.’’
The blue colour protects them from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. ‘‘In the ocean, floating snails, sea slugs and sunfish will gobble up the gelatinous creatures for meals. Although velella toxins are harmless to humans, it’s not a good idea to handle the jelly creatures and then touch your eyes or mouth.
‘‘The velella neurotoxin might cause itching.’’
Last week Department of Conservation acting operations manager Callum Lilley said Taranaki often saw large amounts of by-thewind sailors wash up on its coast- line and wasn’t out of the ordinary to get them at this time of year.
‘‘In fact, it is the time of year that we are most likely to see them,’’ he said.
‘‘Although they can be seen at other times, too.’’
The sailors were at the mercy of the wind and currents and generally onshore winds would drive them to shore, he said.
‘‘They have a sail that sticks up and catches the wind.’’