Spain: ‘Blue Dragon’ spotted on beaches again after 300 years

Costa Blanca
Reappeared after 300 years: “Blue Dragon” sighted on Spain’s beaches

In Spain, the appearance of a rare sea animal is causing a stir: the “Blue Dragon” has been sighted on the coast after more than 300 years. The small sea animal is now likely to spread again.

“Blue Dragon” – that sounds like a character from a children’s film or a Chinese mythical creature. In fact, a real living being hides behind it. The strange creature, scientifically named Glaucus atlanticus, has now been sighted again in Spain.

As “Costa News” reports with reference to the journals “Mediterranean Marine Science” and “Quercus”, marine life has increasingly appeared in the Torrevieja area on the Costa Blanca in southeastern Spain. A team of biologists speaks of an “extraordinary find that increases the mysterious nimbus of the presence of the small invertebrate marine animal,” quoted “Costa News”. The presence is therefore “rather coincidental”.

Most recently, the “Blue Dragon” was seen repeatedly by bathers here in 2021, which is why scientists are once again working more intensively on the animal. Apart from that, however, Glaucus atlanticus had disappeared from the Spanish seacoasts for several hundred years. It was documented in Ibiza in 1705 by the scientist Johann Philip Breyn of the Royal Society of London.

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The creature, which probably belongs to the molluscs, is three centimeters tall and stands out on the one hand with its six branched extremities and on the other hand with its singular colors. The belly area is deep blue and the back is colored in a shimmering silver hue. According to scientists, this coloring serves as camouflage when floating on the water surface.

The habitat of the “Blue Dragon” is actually tropical and subtropical oceans, with the small sea animal feeding on jellyfish-like sea creatures such as the Portuguese galley. If the “Blue Dragon” has just eaten a jellyfish, he takes on the form of a jellyfish in a certain way. This can lead to confusion between the two animals.

According to experts, the Glaucus atlanticus is less dangerous, but you should leave the animal alone and not touch it. A sting can be quite painful, writes the Spanish portal “Murcia Today”. The rising sea temperature could pull the animal more often to the Mediterranean region around Torrevieja in the future. Sightings of the rare sea creature are likely to increase.

Sources: costa news, MurciaToday