These wonders, which look for all the world like glass sculptures, are also known as by-the-wind sailors. I remember encountering on our beach in Del Mar/Torrey Pines sometimes, though never as alive as these fellows, or such deep cobalt/indigo. (Once dried out they turn transparent white.) I'd thought they were a kind of jellyfish, and these seemed somehow akin to sea anenomies, but it
turns out they're floating colonies of polyps and kin only to the Portuguese Man-of War!
There's much else besides on this snagged chip of the Asian plate,
though for redwoods you need to return to the North American one.
I'm sorry not to have had a chance to hang with douglas firs, bishop pines, live oaks, monterrey cypresses, and the famous fog. Next time!
