SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 (UPI) -- Their scientific name is Velella velella, or V. velella. But they also go by sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail, little sail, or simply velella. And right now, they're strewn about the beaches of San Francisco, numbering in the thousands.
The odd-looking blue globs look like jellyfish, but they're not jellyfish. They're a member of a class of animals called hydrozoans, which includes jellyfish and coral. But though they're related to jellyfish, it's a relationship comparable to mammals and birds -- both vertebrates, but not all that similar.