The National Park Service is issuing a warning about the power of these slugs after the poisonous creatures were found washed up on the shores of North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore posted on Facebook that a blue sea dragon (Glaucus atlanticus) had been spotted on the beach.
“This venomous sea slug lives in the open ocean and can be washed ashore by strong winds,” National Coastal Service officials wrote in a Facebook post. “They only grow to about an inch in length, but don't let their size fool you – they pack a punch!”
According to OceanaBlue sea dragons go by other names such as sea swallows and blue angels and can grow to about 1.3 inches in length.
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Blue sea dragons have washed up on shorelines of the Outer Banks, including Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina. (Cape Hatteras National Seashore Facebook post)
They are commonly found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
The specimen is thought to be a type of sea slug that spends most of its life floating upside down on the water's surface, with air bubbles in its stomach to keep it afloat, the group wrote.
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Aerial drone view of Outer Banks Highway 12 with the Atlantic Ocean and Straits on either side of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. (Photo by Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Officials at Cape Hatteras National Seashore say the blue sea dragons travel with the ocean currents and feed on their favorite food, the Portuguese man-of-war.
“Their diet consists of poisonous creatures, allowing them to store the venom for their own protection,” the National Park Service writes. “This allows them to concentrate the venom they ingest, giving them an even more powerful sting! That's a fiery bite for such a tiny dragon.”
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Blue dragon or floating sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus), family Albiobacteridae. Artwork by Bridget James. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
These tiny slugs are extremely venomous, so park officials advise anyone who comes across these beautiful blue slugs to admire them from a safe distance and to be wary of other slugs in the vicinity.
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“Blue sea dragons sometimes travel in flocks known as 'blue fleets,'” the post read. “If spotted, they are venomous whether dead or alive, so please enjoy these fascinating creatures without touching them.”
