Blue Dragon Sea Slugs Appearance On Texas Coastline Remains An Unsolved Mystery
Tags: opinion
The officials of Padre Island National Seashore park have been putting up a warning notice for the visitors to stay alert of these spectacular yet venomous Blue Dragon Sea Slugs.
These sea creatures are small water animals that are bright blue in color. Very recently, they have been washing up on the shores of Texas. This seems to be an extremely mysterious event. These blue dragon sea slugs have a very eye-catching appearance. Their scientific name is ‘Glaucus Atlanticus’.
Even though some of the blue dragon sea slugs have made an appearance in and around the coastlines of Texas previously as well, they very rarely do so. This is also because these creatures are rare in existence too.
The blue dragon sea slugs are found in huge numbers particularly around the Padre Island National Seashore in Texas. This has resulted in bringing the concern to the park officials. The main reason for concern is that these sea animals are highly venomous. It was reported that some of the tourists who came to the park discovered quite a number of blue dragon sea slugs. They then informed the officials regarding the presence of these strikingly gorgeous sea animals.
Credits Padre Island National Seashore
Disguises Of Blue Dragon Sea Slugs
One of the numerous tourists was a 7-year-old boy named Hunter from Arizona who was vacationing on the seashore along with his family. He said that he found four of these blue dragon sea slugs within a little time.
Hunter’s father stated that he loves sea animals and mistook the blue dragon to be an indigo button jellyfish. After Hunter picked up one of the sea slugs, he cried out in the joy of having discovered and caught a new sea species.
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A few months back, Padre Island National Seashore had made a Facebook post about the blue dragon sea slugs along with an attractive-looking photo.
Their post stated that this blue dragon was found in their park that weekend. This is a type of sea slug or nudibranch. They are exceedingly small in size, usually 3 centimeters only. However, the tweet gave a warning to not be fooled by the size or appearance of this sea slug. This is because they have a defense mechanism as invincible as a dragon. This is the reason this sea slug acquired its commonly known name of a ‘blue dragon’.
Blue dragon sea slugs are predators belonging to the rank of Portuguese ‘man of war’. Once they eat, they start stinging the cells towards the fingers. This is mainly for them to focus on those stinging cells.
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Global Amazement Over Blue Dragons
The Glaucus Atlanticus is a unique kind of sea slug. They are bright blue in color and have a wave-like feature in their body. They are also known for simple but potent defense techniques.
Although the sea slugs are only an inch in size, they attack predators with the help of the tip of the ‘fingers’. Their capability of absorbing the powers of stinging on their prey is truly astonishing.
Regardless of the size, the blue dragons can prey on other poisonous siphonophores. This ability is similar to the Portuguese ‘man of wars’ that has tentacles of 165 feet in length. Therefore we ask you to see these enchanting sea slugs from a safe distance.
One of the park spokeswomen has confirmed the growing amount of information regarding the sightings of blue dragon sea slugs. After the increased number of appearances, the park issued a cautionary note on its Facebook page. Their warning emphasized the need of being careful around the sea slugs if they discover one.
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Cautionary Note Against Sea Slugs
Here there be dragons!
A blue dragon, a type of nudibranch or sea slug, was found in the park this weekend. Blue…
Posted by Padre Island National Seashore on Wednesday, 6 May 2020
David Hicks is the director of the School of Marine Science at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley. He has stated that the small size is quite beguiling. Nonetheless, these venomous creatures cannot wholly consume but their sting is worse.
He also added that it might end up consuming a few polyps which add a sense of beauty and exclusivity to the Portuguese colony.
In unfortunate cases, some humans might fall prey to the hybrid stings of the blue dragon. In case a person is stung, they will suffer from nausea, vomiting, and pain. They might also experience rash and swelling in some parts of the body. In order to avoid such instances, the tourists and beachgoers are advised to steer clear of these poisonous sea slugs.
The park expanses include the area of Coastal Bend in southern Texas. This park has a wide variety of rare and endangered species of the sea that make frequent visits on the shore. However, these recent sightings of blue dragon sea slugs have been quite mysterious and rare.
The park officials have not been able to give any reason for these regular visits by the blue dragon sea slugs on their shoreline. Although they did mention that they usually stay in a group so one may find a thousand of them at once.
Image Featured Padre Island National Seashore
Written by: Mayukh Saha
Hey! I am Mayukh. I help people and websites with content, videos, design, and social media management. I am an avid traveler and I started living as a digital nomad in Europe since 2019. I am currently working on www.noetbook.com - a creative media company. You can reach out to me anytime: justmayukh@gmail.
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