Strandings of these jellyfish-like animals, sometimes called "by-the-wind sailors," usually mean spring is coming ...

Hordes of bright blue, jellyfish-like sea creatures are washing up on beaches across California. As of Monday, thousands of the critters — called velella velella or by-the-wind sailors — have been ...

Thousands of translucent blue marine organisms, known as by-the-wind sailors (Velella velella), have recently washed ashore ...

Mild winter weather creates ideal conditions for these jelly-like creatures that travel by wind and wash ashore in spring.

Plenty of random stuff washes up on beaches, ranging from rubber ducks to a giant eyeball. Now small blue creatures resembling melted plastic are appearing on Californian beaches—again.

Temperatures are beginning to ease and there are some brave souls who have already gone to enjoy the beach. In California ... been filled with mysterious blue creatures, known as by-the-wind ...

Either way, California offers hundreds of beaches to choose from. To help you decide which stretch of shoreline to visit next, U.S. News considered traveler sentiment and factors like aesthetics ...