Hunting the Blue Dragon
I'm on the hunt for the legendary blue dragon. This stunningly beautiful predator preys on the by-the-wind sailor, Velella velella, which has been beached in mind-boggling numbers recently. A few weeks ago I saw a photo of the blue dragon; I've been searching through windrows of beach-cast velella ever since. I've also been on the lookout for Janthina, the "purple floating snail," another velella predator. According to this article, the blue dragon has been found in tropical
Purple Haze
Velella by the billions covered beaches today. Indigo streaks stained the sand along the six miles of beach I ran, and the fragrantly decaying organisms formed a greasy paste, creating a slipping hazard. I trudged through the purple tide, glancing at the cellophane-like floats and triangular sails of "by-the-wind sailors." (This is one case where a creature's scientific name, Velella velella, is more melodious and more fun to say than its common name.) I paused in my run to p
