Washed up in vast numbers along the strand, with different sizes present. Photo with my hand is of one of the largest. Just for this beach, Rossbeigh Strand, I estimated very roughly 50 Velella per metre of beach (which is a strip a metre wide running from the water's edge to high tide mark). Multiplied by the 3 km length of the beach, that would work out at 150,000 freshly stranded Velella on just this beach. As we saw them in Co. Clare too, a few days ago, there must have been many millions stranded in the last few days along the Irish coast
Incredible encounter with this golden-ringed sawfly. It seemed to glow in the sunlight