If you’ve been down to the beach over the last few days, you may have been one of the many folks who have spotted a small flash of metallic blue on the sand or floating in rock pools and wondered what on earth you were looking at. There’s been lots of sightings posted online and it’s got the whole internet talking. Okay. I exaggerate. It’s got quite a few people in several Facebook groups chatting. And some of those people are saying these animals are highly venomous and even deadly. But is what they’re saying correct?

Firstly, if you’ve spotted one of these little blue creatures, lucky you! You’ve just found one of my favourite marine animals and something we don’t see all that often. You’re looking at a Blue Dragon Nudibranch (Glaucus atlanticus). 

These fascinating creatures float near the surface of the ocean, swallowing an air bubble so they can stay afloat and are often accompanied by what’s referred to as the blue fleet – other sea creatures that live in this upper part of the ocean, such as By-the wind sailors, blue buttons, violet snails and bluebottles.

So if you’ve found a Blue Dragon, it’s likely you’ll spot other members of the fleet also washed up as they’re all pretty much at the mercy of strong onshore winds like we’ve been having for the past week.

While most people are correctly identifying these little nudis, there’s also a lot of myth and mystery surrounding them. Blue Dragons eat bluebottles and store the stinging cells, the nematocysts, in their wing-like structures for defence, which is perfect for what is otherwise a pretty defenceless creature. But are they deadly, as is often reported? No. 

Sure, there’s always the chance you could be allergic but that’s why you don’t touch the pretty things. And there is a chance that they could give you a bit of a sting due to those stored stinging cells. Australian Geographic asked the director of the National Marine Science Centre at Southern Cross University, Steve Smith, his thoughts on these vibrant sea slugs (you can find the article here) and he said, “They’re not like bluebottles. They may have the capacity to sting but it doesn’t mean they’re going to do it every time.”

The takeaway here is there’s no need to stress out if you come across one of these dragons on your beach wanders, but don’t go rubbing one on your bare skin either. Enjoy your encounter with this stunning creature that usually spends its days way out to sea.