Beachgoers have been treated to a beautiful marine life wonder: Hundreds of thousands of glittering Velella velella, also known as by-the-wind sailors, sea rafts, purple sails and little sails, have washed ashore up and down the California coast.
So what are they? Velellas are related to sea anemones, corals, hydroids and jellyfish. But unlike the latter, they can't swim and don't have enough propulsive ability to control their direction. The small creatures look like oval mini-sailboats that can grow up to 4 inches long.
How they got here: Their gelatinous bases can range in color from vibrant blue to deep purple, and they have transparent triangular "sail" on top. It's what allows them to be blown across the surface of the open sea where they typically live — and with strong enough winds, onto coastal sands.
Why now? It's part of the spring transition, Matthew Bracken, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, told NPR. In the winter months, the wind along the U.S. west coast typically blows from the south, but in April, the prevailing wind direction shifts from northward to southward, and that shift leaves huge numbers of Velella beached along the shoreline, Bracken explained.
Read on... for more on the little blue beauties.
California beaches have been the site of some ghastly scenes this year. Dying sea lions, dolphins, seagulls, pelicans and even a minke whale have washed up on the sands from San Diego to Santa Barbara.
But lately, beachgoers have been treated to a beautiful marine life wonder: Hundreds of thousands of glittering Velella velella, also known as by-the-wind sailors, sea rafts, purple sails and little sails, have washed ashore up and down the California coast.
The small creatures look like oval mini-sailboats that can grow up to 4 inches long. Their gelatinous bases can range in color from vibrant blue to deep purple, and they have transparent triangular "sail" on top. It's what allows them to be blown across the surface of the open sea where they typically live — and with strong enough winds, onto coastal sands.
"They looked like blue diamonds strewn across the beach. It was like these gems, and they're so brilliant blue," Emily Scher gushed over a phone interview with NPR.
Scher, a professional photographer, lives in Malibu and recently came upon tens of thousands of velella while on a sunset bike ride from Zuma to Broad beaches — a stretch of more than a dozen miles. She captured the little beauties with her camera.
"It was like a carpet. I've never seen so many. And so I thought, wouldn't it be cool to get a shot with Point Doom in the distance? So I took one of those," she said.
Indeed, the photo, a close-up of a single velella gently cupped in Scher's hand, is cool.
"It almost looks like a fingerprint when you look at it up close," Scher said of the Velella's, plastic-like sail.
Emily Scher told NPR she was delighted to see the return of velellas in Malibu.
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Emily Scher
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emilyscherphotography.com
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Though they may be new to some, it's expected for rafts of the floating creatures to show up on the shore at this time of year.
It's part of the spring transition, Matthew Bracken, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, told NPR.
In the winter months, the wind along the U.S. west coast typically blows from the south, but in April, the prevailing wind direction shifts from northward to southward, and that shift leaves huge numbers of Velella beached along the shoreline, Bracken explained.
"It's almost like a wave that starts in the north and moves toward the south as the system transitions to predominantly onshore-type winds. And when that happens they get blown and then they get stranded," Bracken said.
Velellas are related to sea anemones, corals, hydroids and jellyfish. But unlike the latter, they can't swim and don't have enough propulsive ability to control their direction, Bracken said.
They are also closely related to, and often mistaken for, Portuguese man o' war because of their bright blue color. But velellas are nowhere near as dangerous to humans as their larger cousins. While both use dangling tentacles to feast on their prey, the velella's stinging cells (called nematocysts) are harmless to humans, though they can be irritating.
Bracken suggests avoiding touching your face or eyes after handling them because the stinging cells can transfer to your hands. "And if you were to rub one in a really sensitive area, that could potentially cause itching or burning," he cautioned.
(When asked about her own reaction to holding velellas, Scher said she didn't experience any discomfort.
"It just feels like you're just picking up something a little bit gooey," she said.)
Bracken noted that the "wild thing" about velella is that what is perceived as a single animal is actually a"large colony [of hydrozoa] with a whole bunch of individuals, each specialized to a different purpose."
"Some of them are feeding individuals, some of them form the sail" others are in charge of reproduction, Bracken said.
Once they wash up, beachcombers only have a few hours to enjoy their colorful display. They begin to dry out and decompose as soon as they're out of the water. Their vivid hues disappear, leaving behind piles of plastic-like, crunchy remnants.<br>
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Nicolas Tucat
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AFP via Getty Images
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Once they wash up, beachcombers only have a few hours to enjoy their colorful display. They begin to dry out and decompose as soon as they're out of the water. Their vivid hues disappear, leaving behind piles of plastic-like, crunchy remnants.
Bracken is intrigued by recent research suggesting that there could be a connection between the mass strandings of velella and the ocean's rising temperatures.
"There are records of these strandings stretching back as long as people have been walking and poking along the shoreline," he said. "Some years are big years. Some years we don't see as many of them. But when we take a step back and look at the long-term pattern, there seems to be a relationship between stranding events and sea-surface temperatures during the previous winter."
Emily Scher said that after posting her photos to her Facebook page, several people remarked that the velella's appearance was a harbinger of global warming. But after living in Malibu for more than 20 years, she views this year's arrival of the iridescent creatures as a good thing.
"People were saying this means that they're dying because of the [algae] toxins," that have been killing marine mammals and birds, Scher said. "But I think it just means there's a giant crop of them that were thriving and doing great."
Copyright 2025 NPR
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.
It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.
"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."
Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.
The Fed's job gets harder
Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.
The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.
For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.
"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."
Every Sunday night, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from jazz legends — for just $10.
Why it matters: The revolving cast draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, including: saxophonist Rickey Woodard, who played for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and more; trumpeter Nolan Shaheed, who backed Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Stevie Wonder.
Read on ... to find the details of this hidden gem ...
It seems that jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles. Blue Note opened a club last year, venues like Sam First, Catalina’s, Vibrato and the Baked Potato draw large crowds, and hotels and bars are adding jazz to their schedules.
But every week, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from legends such as Rickey Woodard, who played saxophone for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and others; and Nolan Shaheed, trumpeter for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and more.
That’s before you get to the evening’s singer, who might be 96-year-old pianist Betty Bryant, former Raelette Val Monroe or singer and Grammy-winning songwriter John Proulx.
Until recently, the Sunday night Jazz Salon was free. Now it charges a nominal $10 per person, which is still an outrageous bargain, so be sure to add something to the tip jar on the piano, and maybe try one of the cocktails or the steak frites.
Inside the club
Walking into the club earlier, you see black-and-white photos of all types of healthy pursuits on the walls, as well as trophies and mementos of the club’s nearly century-and-a-half history. Plush sofas, high ceilings and book-filled shelves are the order of the day, and alongside members in gym gear or lugging laptops, you go up in one of the elevators to the third floor, where the Jazz Salon takes place.
Dave Ross, bassist and founder of the Jazz Salon.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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The bassist who built it
Earlier in the day, Dave Ross, 76, was setting up the amps, drum kit, mixer and mic stands. He also administers the website, acts as MC and plays double bass as part of the ensemble. He began the venture over a decade ago, when he persuaded the LAAC, of which he had long been a member, to host concerts in their redecorated restaurant and bar.
Ross draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, and the concert takes place opposite the bar in a wood-paneled room of just a few dozen leather chairs and tables. This small scale makes the night intimate and unique.
Sunday Night Jazz Salon
Location: Invention (3rd Floor), The Los Angeles Athletic Club, 646 S Olive St., Downtown Los Angeles
Time: Sundays, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM (with a brief intermission) Cost: $10 cover charge at the door Make reservations and check out the weekly artist schedule
“No gig is ever the same,” says Ross. “We don’t rehearse, and every time we play a song, we're never trying to play it the same way we played it before.”
That makes the night fun, too. Since you’re right near the musicians, you can hear their laughter and banter, as well as their impressive solos. Ross, stage left, stays out of the limelight — which is how he prefers it — and often says he's just happy to be there playing.
“You're there to keep the beat, the pulse of the music,” he says. “And then, secondarily, the notes that you play help the other musicians understand what the chord, what the harmony is. I'm just doing it for the pleasure of playing the music.”
The Jazz Salon is a $10 Sunday night concert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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Why $10 barely covers it
Once a month, Ross and some of his stable join a touring artist — recently five-time Grammy-nominee Karrin Allyson — in the club’s 250-seat ballroom for a more formal ticketed event, but there have been just two complete sellouts of them this year: tributes to Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond.
Donations and the tip jar on Sunday evenings sometimes haven’t been enough to break even, either, which led to Ross reluctantly introducing the $10 charge. No matter what, he is determined the Jazz Salon will keep going.
“When I was younger, there was a receptionist I knew who was a nun. She said: “‘You know what your problem is? You’re too optimistic!’”
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Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published August 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Shemtob approaches strangers across Los Angeles and asks a simple question: What's your mom's best dish?
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Screenshot via Better Than Your Mom
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Topline:
Lime Truck founder and two-time Great Food Truck Race champion Daniel Shemtob is approaching strangers across L.A., asking what their mom's best dish is, and turning it into a taco on his food truck the same day. It's all part of a new five-episode series, Better Than Your Mom, launched on what would have been his mother's birthday.
Why it matters: What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in last year's Palisades Fire, one taco at a time.
Read on … for how a stranger's yes turns into a family's story, and what happens when a taco truck becomes a place to grieve, honor and remember.
Daniel Shemtob has been going around Los Angeles asking strangers this question: "What's your mom's best dish?"
He then turns their answers — from Filipino oxtail adobo to the Ashkenazi Jewish favorite of gefilte fish — into a taco for his new five-episode web series, "Better Than Your Mom."
One episode breaks from the format entirely: a head-to-head chopped salad taco challenge between Shemtob and Vanessa Silverton, daughter of famed L.A. chef Nancy Silverton, judged blind by Nancy herself.
Daniel Shemtob, founder of The Lime Truck and creator and host of Better Than Your Mom.
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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob
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A two-time winner of "The Great Food Truck Race" on the Food Network, Shemtob is no stranger to reality TV — he also founded The Lime Truck, serving Cali-Mex cuisine in Orange County.
What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in the 2025 Palisades Fire.
A dish for his mother
Despite loving fine dining, Shemtob said nothing beats the experience of having someone invite him to their mother's home for dinner.
"It's by far my favorite thing," he said.
Gundry watched as Shemtob reworked her mother-in-law's recipe in real time — a process that normally takes her more than two hours, done in 20 minutes.
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Screenshot via Better Than Your Mom
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That urge to connect with other people also came from wanting to celebrate his late mother's legacy and the impact she had on him in the kitchen.
"Eating was like a big part of how we shared and celebrated," Shemtob said. "It was a culture that was built around food."
A stranger says, 'yes'
While most walk past him or decline to talk, Shemtob said he's been surprised by how many strangers say yes almost immediately — like Anne Gundry, a retired biology teacher in Long Beach.
She answered with a dish from her mother-in-law from her first marriage — gefilte fish served cold.
Shemtob's take on Dena Levenstein's gefilte fish, reimagined as a taco with an apple-horseradish slaw.
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Courtesy Daniel Shemtob
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Gundry recalled her first meeting with Dena Levenstein, who would become her mother-in-law. The relationship started out cold — but cooking together changed their dynamic.
"That's where I honestly think we had the deepest bond with her," Gundry said.
Gundry described yearly visits to Levenstein's house as a cooking "apprenticeship," where Gundry was taught to cook by feel — adding ingredients by the handful, testing a dish's consistency by touch.
"She used to say, 'How does it feel?'" Gundry recalled. "And I'd say, 'I don't know, I don't know how it's supposed to feel.'"
Over the years, she learned. Now, Gundry teaches her own children that recipe the same way — without referring to what's written down.
Watching Shemtob cook on "Better Than Your Mom," Gundry was skeptical. Her own process takes over two hours; his took 20 minutes — until she tasted the apple-horseradish slaw he added.
"Brilliant," she said. "I've been trying to duplicate it at home."
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published August 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Phoebe Bridgers plays with her band Boygenius during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Frazer Harrison
/
Getty Images North America
)
Topline:
Phoebe Bridgers is giving Southern California fans an unusual way to hear her new album Lost Weekend with a listening session inside the Orange Coast College planetarium in Costa Mesa.
Why now: Lost Weekend, Bridgers’ first studio album in six years, is out Friday, with listening sessions taking place at dozens of planetariums around the world next week.
The backstory: Orange Coast College already has a tradition of pairing music with visuals through popular laser shows featuring the music of everyone from Pink Floyd to Taylor Swift. But the Bridgers event is by far the most high-profile, pairing the album with both a laser show by Laser Fantasy and a full-dome presentation with imagery by taken by astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.
Next week Phoebe Bridgers fans in Southern California will get an otherworldly way to enjoy her new album ahead of its official release Friday.
And a Costa Mesa institution will enjoy the chance to introduce indie music lovers to what it does beyond astronomy lectures and field trips.
The Orange Coast College Planetarium is one of dozens of planetariums around the world – and the only in Southern California – hosting listening sessions next week for Lost Weekend, one of the year’s most anticipated indie releases and Bridgers’ first solo studio album in six years.
The Pasadena native is not expected at any of the planetarium shows. But that doesn’t matter to her fan base.
Phoebe Bridger fans can listen to her album in the planetarium's 125-seat dome theater.
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Courtesy Orange Coast College Planetarium
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Twelve shows in the 125-seat theater sold out within four hours of going on sale Thursday, according to the planetarium. So staff added 16 more, bringing the total to 28 screenings over four days, Aug. 10 through 13. (At last check, tickets for showings earlier in the day were still available.)
“We have never had an event that was this anticipated,” Rhiannon Graffio, lead speaker and educator at the planetarium.
Listening to Lost Weekend...at a planetarium
When: Aug. 10–13. Shows are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening, with both fulldome and laser show experiences.
Where: Orange Coast College Planetarium, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.
Tickets: $20. Tickets are available through Orange Coast College’s ticketing site.
Phone-free: Phones must be placed in locking Yondr pouches during the listening sessions. Smartwatches, cameras, Meta glasses and other recording
There’s two ways to experience the record from start to finish, which is a little over 50 minutes long.
One is a full-dome show featuring images taken by renowned astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.
“It's gorgeous,” Graffio said. “There's some that are of the night sky, where you can see the paths of the stars as the Earth rotates, or auroras or lightning.”
The other option is a laser show created by Laser Fantasy, with scenes and storylines moving in time with the music.
Graffio said the planetarium had been approached by Bridgers’ label Dead Oceans to host the shows, which are being presented in partnership with Spotify.
Rhiannon Graffio, a lead speaker at the Orange Coast College Planetarium, has been working with Phoebe Bridgers' label on next week's listening sessions.
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Courtesy Rhiannon Graffio
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The events are strictly phone-free. To prevent album leaks, attendees will have to put their phones in pouches provided by Yondr, a company that works concerts and other events. Smartwatches, and Meta glasses also aren’t allowed.
The Lost Weekend events are the most high-profile but certainly not the planetarium’s first experiment with mixing music and visuals.
The theater regularly hosts laser shows set to music, cycling through different artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé each month while keeping some crowd favorites like Pink Floyd in rotation. Graffio said in the last year KPop Demon Hunters laser shows have been especially popular.
Accommodating the Lost Weekend shows has meant bringing extra staff to handle the weekday crowds at the community planetarium.
But Graffio said there's a big upside to introducing music fans to a place they may never have thought to visit.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “And most of the shows that we do are also educational in some sense. As cool as the visuals are, they are about the universe and what we know about it.”
And for those who can't make it to the planetarium shows, there's a more traditional route to marking Bridgers' new album. A dozen record stores around Southern California are hosting listening sessions at midnight Friday.
