The by-the-wind sailor, Velella velella, is a colonial hydroid in the phylum cnidaria. By-the-wind sailors possess a thin, almost flat oval chitinous float with a vertical fin-like sail attached diagonally across the top of the float. Tentacles, which possess weak stinging cells, surround the central mouth underneath the float.

This image is taken of the underside of the edge of the float and shows some of the tentacles that ring the mouth.

This species occasionally shows up on Guernsey's west coast beaches usually during the Autumn / Fall when south-westerly winds bring them into the English Channel. Occasional we see them on Guernsey's east coast during a period of easterly wind.

Photographed on the 12 December 1999.
File No. 121299 33-353
©RLLord
fishinfo@guernsey.net

The by-the-wind sailor, Velella velella, is a colonial hydroid in the phylum cnidaria. By-the-wind sailors possess a thin, almost flat oval chitinous float with a vertical fin-like sail attached diagonally across the top of the float. Tentacles, which possess weak stinging cells, surround the central mouth underneath the float.

This image is taken of the underside of the edge of the float and shows some of the tentacles that ring the mouth.

This species occasionally shows up on Guernsey's west coast beaches usually during the Autumn / Fall when south-westerly winds bring them into the English Channel. Occasional we see them on Guernsey's east coast during a period of easterly wind.

Photographed on the 12 December 1999.
File No. 121299 33-353
©RLLord
fishinfo@guernsey.net