{"id":708762,"date":"2026-07-24T12:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/708762\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T12:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:07:23","slug":"thousands-of-by-the-wind-sailors-wash-up-at-poppit-sands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/708762\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of By-the-Wind Sailors Wash Up at Poppit Sands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The mysterious creatures were spotted on Wednesday, July 22 at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westerntelegraph.co.uk\/news\/23536996.blue-flag-status-poppit-despite-fresh-sewage-pollution-fears\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Poppit Sands<\/a>, after low tide left the shoreline covered with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westerntelegraph.co.uk\/news\/25415932.by-the-wind-sailors-among-strangest-creatures-uk-beaches\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">by-the-wind sailors, also known as Velella velella<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Beachgoers stopped to examine the jewel-like by-the-wind sailors, which are usually found drifting far out at sea. (Image: Jax Wing)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Jax Wing, who witnessed the spectacle, said: &#8220;Thousands of By The Wind Sailors (Velella Velella) were washed up on the beach and some were floating in the sea.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;So amazing to watch.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>  What is a by-the-wind sailor?<\/p>\n<p>\n  By-the-wind sailors have been described as an &#8220;incredibly strange and beautiful&#8221; species by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wildlifetrusts.org\/wildlife-explorer\/marine\/colonial-creatures\/wind-sailor?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Wildlife Trusts<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The creatures are colonial hydroids, composed of many tiny animals that form a single organism.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The charity said: &#8220;Its characteristic sail gives the animal its name, &#8216;by-the-wind-sailor.&#8217;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Beachgoers stopped to examine the jewel-like by-the-wind sailors, which are usually found drifting far out at sea. (Image: Jax Wing)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;The sail allows the organism to catch the wind and travel on ocean currents, using its stinging tentacles to prey on young fish and other small animals while it travels.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Beachgoers stopped to examine the jewel-like by-the-wind sailors, which are usually found drifting far out at sea. (Image: Jax Wing)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;They are at the mercy of the winds and so are usually found washed up in their hundreds, or sometimes even thousands, after stormy winter weather.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Though harmless to admire from a distance, the creatures do pose a mild risk to humans.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  According to marine specialists, stranded by-the-wind sailors can still sting. While their toxins are usually too mild to cause serious harm, contact with sensitive areas such as the eyes, lips or face can cause discomfort and a tingling sensation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Beachgoers stopped to examine the jewel-like by-the-wind sailors, which are usually found drifting far out at sea. (Image: Jax Wing)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Poppit Sands is a Blue Flag award-winning beach located at the mouth of the River Teifi estuary and marks the official start of the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The unusual arrival offered beachgoers a rare glimpse of marine life usually found drifting across open waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mysterious creatures were spotted on Wednesday, July 22 at Poppit Sands, after low tide left the shoreline&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-708762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}