By-the-wind-sailors: Creatures wash up on Guernsey beaches

A colony of creatures closely related to the Portuguese man o’ war has washed up on beaches around Guernsey.

Commonly referred to as by-the-wind-sailors, Velella velella are not jellyfish but defined as free-floating hydrozoan.

The nickname comes from the small stiff sail which they use to catch the wind and propel them along an ocean’s surface.

Experts said when the creatures were alive the sting was “very mild”.