It looks like something from a science fiction movie. But neon blue creature that looks like a tie-dyed is very real - and recently washed up on an Australian beach.

 The blobby creature was spotted on the foreshore at Broadbent beach by a local who shot video of it wriggling in the sand.

Commonly - and suitably - known as a Blue Dragon, the rare sea creature eats blue bottle jellyfish, and along with a striking, alien appearance, packs a sting of its own. Blue dragons ( Glaucus atlanticus) spend their lives floating upside down in warm ocean currents, attacking their prey with a powerful venom from their wing-like appendages.

This particular Blue Dragon was filmed writhing on the sand and moving what appears to be its head at Broadbeach, Queensland, by Lucinda Fry


Griffith University marine invertebrates expert Kylie Pitt said the creature was actually a sea slug, called Glaucus atlanticus. 'I would not recommend anyone pick them up because they can have a painful sting,' she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Source

Came across this odd critter at Broadbeach today. It's a Glaucus Atlanticus.
Posted by Lucinda Fry on Thursday, November 12, 2015