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A sea creature described as “the most beautiful killer in the ocean” due to its dazzling blue color and potentially fatal sting has arrived on an African beach.
Glaucus atlanticus, commonly known as the blue dragons, was found on Fish Hoek Beach near Cape Town in South Africa by a local woman who was out for a walk.
The sea snail feeds on the deadly Portuguese man o ‘war and other poisonous marine animals.
It then absorbs the stinging cells from its food and stores them in concentrated doses, which gives it a much more powerful sting than its prey.
(Image: Credit: Pen News / Maria Wagener)
Typical symptoms of blue dragon sting include nausea, pain, vomiting, and acute allergic contact dermatitis.
Maria Wagener, who found the creatures, often helps beached starfish get back into the water, but this time she managed to escape luckily when instinct told her to keep her distance.
“I’ve never seen them before and I’ve lived near this beach for most of my life,” he said.
“They are a bit like a sea scorpion. They are small, about an inch long. They are blue on top and white below.
“It wasn’t hard to spot them on the white sand.”
(Image: Credit: Pen News / Maria Wagener)
He continued: “I collect starfish all the time and put them back into the sea, but I had a feeling they had a sting.
“I probably would have put them back into the sea if I had had something to lift them.
“So no, I didn’t touch them!”
Mrs. Wagener estimates she found 20 on the beach, but says “it could have been more”.
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And if there was any doubt that the creatures had ingested poison from their prey, the grandmother found the evidence right at the bottom of the beach.
“There were also a variety of other marine life species,” he said.
“There were little blue crabs, Portuguese war men and blue shells called Janthina Janthina.”
Fortunately, the blue dragons probably didn’t need Maria’s help.
He said: “They were still very much alive when I saw them. The tide would have brought them back to the sea.”
Ms. Wagener shares photos of her beach discoveries on her Facebook page, Fish Hoek Beach.
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