SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
3 B
Oregon Coast Aquarium issues ‘Blue tide’ warning
Most of us have heard of
“red tides,” those unusually
dense blooms of marine algae
that stain nearshore waters a
brownish red and can be toxic
to wildlife and humans.
But what about a “blue tide,”
when beaches are strewn with
an aquamarine layer of jelly-
like organisms in spring?
These are the innumerable
bodies
of
“by-the-wind
sailors,” and their strandings
are a regular yet fascinating
phenomenon in coastal Oregon.
Ranging in size from a few
millimeters across to seven
centimeters, these brilliant blue
and purple animals, known for-
mally as Velella, are common
offshore visitors to the Pacific
coast.
While they might sometimes
wash up on our beaches in
alarming quantities, this “blue
tide” poses far less of a risk to
animals and people than the red
variety.
The common name of
these gelatinous crea-
tures — “by-the-wind
sailor” — refers to the
clear, triangular sail at
the top of the animal’s
body which catches the
wind and propels it
across the surface.
Short tentacles hang
from the underside of the
sail. Found in all the
world’s oceans, these
animals have no inde-
pendent form of move-
ment and will drift at the
whim of the breeze.
Their bodies have
evolved to capitalize on
prevailing winds, which differ
depending on season and local-
ity.
On our side of the North
Pacific, the sails of Velella are
set in a northwest-to-southeast
the sails are set in a northeast-
to-southwest direction—and in
the Southern Hemisphere, the
in front of the wind, aiming
always to be blown away from
shore.
Despite Velella’s
simple yet effective
sail, heavier winds
during the spring and
summer months may
nevertheless cause
mass strandings of
these animals.
During such con-
ditions,
it
isn’t
uncommon to see
miles and miles of
Oregon beach carpet-
ed with stinking
heaps of Velella,
which quickly die
and decay on shore,
turning from a metal-
lic blue to a lifeless
white.
By-the-wind sailors feed
mainly on plankton drifting
The venom of Velella is
considered harmless to human
beings, but beachcombers are
cautioned not to touch any
jellies or jelly-like animals
foundwashed up on shore.
direction, to take advantage of
regional wind patterns. On the
other side of the North Pacific,
sails are reversed.
With gentle winds, Velella
sail at about a 45-degree angle
near the ocean’s surface. They
capture these tiny animals by
stinging them with barb-tipped
cells contained within their ten-
tacles.
Their venom is considered
harmless to human beings, but
beachcombers are cautioned
not to touch any jellies or jelly-
like animals found washed up
on shore, as some may react
more strongly to the venom
than others.
Other, more dangerous jel-
lies might also be mixed in with
Velella.
Although originally classi-
fied as a jelly, current research
suggests that by-the-wind
sailors are actually a unique
species of large hydrozoan, a
class of predatory animals dis-
tantly related to corals, sea
anemones and jellies, which
live mostly in salt water.
ATHLETE
OF THE
WEEK
Carissa Oliver
Siusla
w H.S
.
Track & Field
The senior thrower finished
fourth in two different events at
the prestigious Oregon Relays
at Eugene’s Hayward Field last
week.
In the process she
improved her previous best
mark in the shot put with a toss
of 40’ 5 ½”, the fourth longest
in school history. Her discus
mark was also the fourth
longest in school history, 130’
11 ½”.
Honorable Mention
Trent Reavis
Honorable mention is given to
fellow thrower Trent Reavis
who was sixth in the shot put,
12th in the discus and seventh
in the javelin at the Oregon
Relays with a personal best
throw of 164’ 7 ½” in the
javelin, the fifth longest in
school history.
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NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Siuslaw senior Heidi Jones gets the go-ahead from Siuslaw coach Sean O’Mara (far left) en route to stealing home in game one against Marshfield.
Softball
from 1B
Vikings had trouble generating
offense against Pirates pitcher
Mackenzie Johnson, who threw
a 1-hitter in game two before
ending things in the fifth
inning, 15-1.
Abby Coday provided
Siuslaw’s only hit in the game,
smacking a double to drive in
the Lady Viks’ only run.
In the opener, however,
Siuslaw pitcher Heidi Jones
struck out 8 batters and, from
the plate, went 2-for-3, scoring
the team’s only 2 runs.
Marshfield rallied to tie the
game at 2-2 in the top of the
fourth inning, then generated 2
more runs in the top of the sixth
to hold out for a 4-2 win.
The win puts Marshfield at
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2-1, with the Viks at 1-2 in
league.
Siuslaw will host Douglas
(2-0) Friday for a doublehead-
er, beginning at 3 p.m.
Track
from 1B
Other finishers for the boys
included freshman Ryan
Rendon-Padilla with 10th in the
javelin at 154-11; senior Clark
Hooper, who didn’t qualify for
the finals despite setting a PR in
the 110 hurdles at 15.65. He
was also 26th in the 300-meter
hurdles in 42.41; and in the
boys freshman 3,000 meters,
Brendon Jensen finished 18th in
a sub 10-minute time of
9:46.94, followed by fellow
freshman Kiger Johnson in 28th
place at 10:04.15.
For the girls, senior Celie
Mans ran the 1,500-meters in 5
minutes and 1.42 seconds for
25th place. She was also 14th in
the 3,000 meters the previous
day in 10:39.38; senior Destinie
Tatum was 35th in the 400
meters in 1:03.69 and landed
34th in the high jump (4-7);
sophomore Madison Reynolds
threw for 27th place in the shot
put at 33-0.25; in the freshman
girls 3,000 meters, Hannah
Rannow placed 18th in
11:45.24 and Anne Wartnik
place 26th in 12:17.34.
Friday, Siuslaw will host the
Central Coast Invitational,
beginning at 4 p.m.
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BY N OON . E MAIL P RESS R ELEASES @T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM .