I’m a dragon but I’m small
Floating on the surface of the ocean
Travelling with them all
Moved along just by the motion.
I have wings but cannot fly
Silver and blue so fish won’t detect me
Eating blue bottles so they supply
Stinging cells that I use to protect me.
What on earth am I?
I’m a Blue Dragon Nudibranch.
Okay, this is one of my favourite animals ever. The first time I found one, I pretty much screamed the beach down. I had been searching for one of these little nudibranchs forever and we all know that when you finally find something that you’ve been looking for, for years, when you do finally find it, it feels good. I knew I was looking for something silver and blue, washed ashore, but did not expect the tiny little lump of ‘smoosh’ I found.
Unlike most nudibranchs that crawl along sandy bottoms and rock surfaces, these nudies swallow an air bubble which they use to keep themselves afloat on the surface of the ocean. They float upside down, with their blue side facing up blending into the ocean which keeps them safe from being eaten by seabirds. Meanwhile, their silvery side faces down and, to fish looking up, they blend into the sky. Clever.
They travel with the ‘blue fleet’ consisting of violet snails, blue buttons, by-the-wind sailors and bluebottles. Now, they love to eat bluebottles and take the bluebottle’s stinging cells, storing them in the tips of their ‘wings’. So, they’re beautiful but not at all fun to eat.
The times I’ve seen them, they’ve been washed up in mass strandings. As they’re at the mercy of the wind, they can be found washed ashore with other members of the ‘blue fleet’. If you ever see a heap of bluebottles on the beach, CAREFULLY look around the area. You might not only see blue dragons but some of the other travellers too.
As they do feed on bluebottles, you could possibly be stung by picking them up so I always use a shell or scoop up a big handful of wet sand from underneath them and pop them into a nearby rock pool. It’s totally worth the effort as they unfold from their ball of squishiness into a beautiful, ‘winged’ creature, bright blue and white and silver. Easily my favourite type of dragon.