Nick Darke 'phoned me at 0800 this morning to say that on Porthcothan Beach
there are 'millions' of Velella velella, the By-the Wind- Sailor . They are
freshly dead, the float having the animals or at least fragments of the soft
tissue, still present. They are probably tall along the north coast, especially
at Perranporth, so I will be interested to have an idea of the maximum density
per sq.metre. The last really big incursion was in June/July 1981. Rennie Bere
counted 150 to 200 per sq. metre, as they came in on the tide (i. e. not heaped
up in catchment areas) and he estimated 100, 00 for the stretch of shore at Bude

One specimen of Rhizostoma jellyfish (26" diameter) was also on the shore.
Velella is not a jellyfish, but a colnial animal, related to the Portiuese
Man-of-War.

Stella


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]