CHENNAI: Beachgoers, beware! If you happen to see pretty-looking, colourful creatures floating near the seashore, don't touch them. You may end up with a painful sting.
For the past two days, blue dragons (Glaucus atlanticus), a type of sea slug, have been spotted on the beach and in waters near the shore in Besant Nagar. Usually found in open sea surface waters, they sometimes get pushed to the shore due to a storm or some oceanic condition.
Marine biologists say these tiny organisms are "mildly' venomous and their sting can cause problems, especially to children and elderly.
Srivatsan Ramkumar from the Environmentalist Foundation of India was the first to spot these creatures and share pictures with TNIE. "I saw close to 50 near the Broken Bridge area in Besant Nagar on Sunday evening. Some were alive and others were found dead on the sand," he said. Animal lover Shravan Krishnan also spotted a group near Adyar Estuary. "I saw one group near the estuary at around 5.30 pm on Monday."
Joe K Kizhakudan, scientist at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), told TNIE that sightings of blue dragons are rare, but there are records of them being found in the past near Kovalam shores etc. They get beached in large numbers when the surface water of the sea gets pushed to the shore during an upwelling. "I personally saw them washing ashore in large numbers three years back," the scientist said.
Do blue dragons pose a threat to beachgoers? Kizhakudan said they are slightly venomous. "They feed on venomous siphonophores, the violet snail, and the dangerously venomous Portuguese man o' war. The blue dragon stores the man o’ war’s stinging nematocysts within its finger-like appendages. The sting from this little guy can be painful. People who swim in shore waters should be careful about not coming in contact with them. However, they can't survive the daytime heat."