The Brief

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.

(

Emily Scher

/

emilyscherphotography.com

)

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>

(

Nicolas Tucat

/

AFP via Getty Images

)

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

Longtime Republican Rep. Darrell Issa will not seek reelection, he announced Friday.

His decision comes four months after his San Diego-area congressional district was redrawn to favor Democrats, and shortly after San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican, filed papers to run in the same district.

Issa, a longtime GOP stalwart, said that he was endorsing Desmond in a statement announcing his decision to retire.

“This decision has been on my mind for a while, and I didn’t make it lightly,” he said. “But after a quarter century in Congress — and before that, a quarter century in business — it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges.”

A history of reshuffling

Issa represented the San Diego area in Congress for more than 20 years. He briefly retired in 2019 when his seat, now represented by Democrat Mike Levin, became more competitive. He returned to Congress in 2021 after winning a seat in the 50th District, which was redrawn after statewide redistricting later that year. He moved to his current seat in the 48th District in 2023.

The newly configured seat attracted a slew of Democratic challengers after it became more competitive when voters approved Proposition 50 last fall. The redistricting measure was designed to give Democrats up to five additional seats in the U.S. House and counter similar redistricting efforts in other states that favored Republicans.

Desmond had previously announced that he would run in the 49th District against Levin.

“They drew me into this district, but the truth is, I’ve been serving this community for years,” Desmond said in a statement to CalMatters. Prior to Prop. 50, Desmond lived in the 49th District. He now lives in the 48th. “I’ll fight every single day to make life more affordable, more safe, and more free.”

Crowded field of Democrats

In the 48th District, two Democratic candidates — Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former opponent of Issa, and San Diego city council member Marni von Wilpert — lead a crowded field eager to flip the district blue. No candidate garnered enough support for the party’s endorsement last month.

California Republicans have been reshuffling for months as their districts were redrawn.

Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, one of the longest-serving members in Congress, is now running in the 40th District against Republican incumbent Young Kim of Orange County. His present district, the neighboring 41st, was moved entirely out of conservative pockets of Riverside County to Los Angeles County.

Issa briefly contemplated a congressional run in Texas in December after the new districts were created but decided against it.

It must have been about 10 years ago when I was running in the L.A. Marathon and had worked my way through the early miles along Sunset Boulevard, through downtown L.A. and up Temple Street.

On crossing the 101 Freeway into historic residential Echo Park, I see them: the hand-painted signs, lined up one after another: “Super Sloppy,” “Chili Cheese Dogz.” Then “BAD IDEA?” … “Maybe, Maybe not!”

Then I hear the music, and cheering from the neighbors who’ve come out to see who will tempt gastric disaster for some spicy, drippy chili and yellow American cheese atop nitrate-laced tube steaks.

Did I grab a chili cheese dog? No. I have never dared to take anything more than photos at the stand, given that I still have, at about Mile 5, 21 more miles to run, and running with the “runs” is not my thing.

But Marvin Suntonvipart did in 2016, he said, because he was undertrained and going at a slow jog. He figured it wouldn’t hurt.

“Digestive speed,” he called it. And the roadside snack? “It was good, highly recommended.”

The chili cheese dogs, free to marathon participants, have been the brainchild of artist and puppeteer Julianna Parr and her friend Alex Kenefick since 2011

“He ran up to me breathlessly and said I have this idea where we serve super sloppy chili cheese dogs to marathon runners. And I said to him 'That's a terrible idea. When do we start?'" Parr said.

This will be their 13th year serving marathoners, having skipped a few during the pandemic.

“It’s a happening,” Parr said, adding that she still gets a kick thinking about the runners’ reactions when they turn the corner off the freeway and see the signs leading them to free chili cheese dogs.

“We know that you're expecting to make choices about how you'll run, how fast you'll run, how slow you'll run, how you're going to pace, you've been doing this maybe for months to train, but we know that you have one choice that you probably did not bank on and that would be whether you're going to eat a super sloppy chili cheese dog,” she said.

The food is prepped outdoors on site starting at 5 a.m. Marathon Sunday using camp stoves and heated chafing dishes to keep everything at a safe temperature. Then, the group waits for the athletes to come through. The race starts at Dodger Stadium before 7 a.m. First to pass their stand are the wheelchair racers, then the pro men and women runners and then amateur elites, who are too fast to try to stop.

Soon, by about 8 a.m., there is a trickle of takers. And then the masses arrive.

David Winslow of Culver City partakes of a free chili cheese dog in the fifth mile of the L.A. Marathon in March 2020.

(

Courtesy David Winslow

)

“We just get mobbed,” she said. “People will try to grab them out of the hot vat. And I go, ‘Back, back!’ Like that's when they get wild, and they don't have common sense anymore and that's [just] at Mile 5."

The stunt costs about $700 each year to put together, which Parr and friends have footed. But this year, for the first time, she has put up a website to sell merch, including stickers, hats, tote bags and mugs. I think it will be a very “locals only” statement to be walking around with a Super Sloppy Chili Cheese Dog tote bag.

Runner Diana Kitching said she picks up a free dog almost every year when she passes by. In fact, in 2024, as a breastfeeding mom whose marathon pace was slowed with a few breaks to pump, she had two!

Unsurprisingly, the chili cheese dogs are most attractive to runners on a more relaxed and fun pace, those who are not taking their marathon times too seriously.

That was the case for David Winslow one year, when he was running with a group of cancer survivors and living kidney and liver organ donors.

“Each time you see the chili guys it’s like, ‘Who would be that crazy and stupid?’ You see guys grab them and go for it, and you shake your head," Winslow said.

But in 2019 and 2020, as he and his survivor and donor friends rounded the turn over the freeway, something changed.

“We just said, ‘Hey, we HAVE to do this!’ And I do not regret it. One of the craziest things to do during a race," Winslow said.

Playwright and performance artist Kristina Wong has eaten bagel and lox and baklava while taking on the L.A. Marathon, but she draws the line at a chili cheese dog.

“These hot dog portions look downright diarrhea-sized,” Wong said.

And runner O. Gary Pealer said he’d eat one at Mile 5 if they also served beer to wash it down.

But in my experience, the people pouring free beer are usually at Mile 20.

You may know the sounds of parrots screeching pretty well. They’re now definitely part of L.A.'s soundscape, even though they're not native to Southern California and only started multiplying a few decades ago, thriving in our urban jungle.

Researchers at Occidental College, with the Free Flying Los Angeles Parrot Project, have been studying one species in particular to see how they’re adapting to life in the L.A. basin.

The standout parrot

About nine species of parrots, native to South and Central America, fly around the region, according to John McCormack, who’s the director and curator of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology at Occidental College.

He says it’s not clear how they got here. Urban legends say these birds are descendants of parrots that escaped the pet trade, or broke free from homes and aviaries. Regardless, they’ve stuck around.

One of those species is the nanday parakeet, which are known for their rich green bodies, with blue-tinged tails and wings, and dark heads. They showed up in the 1980s and roost in our native Sycamore trees. McCormack says over the years they’ve acted differently from other species.

Nanday parakeets eat fuzzy Sycamore balls instead of local fruits, like the loquats that other parrots love. They also don’t fly as far as nandays would typically do in their native habitats, which includes Brazil and Argentina, or as far as other parrots do here.

“ The nandays had not spread all over the city,” he said. “They’d remained pretty confined to the canyons around Malibu.”

McCormack says the conditions here are different than back home, so that left them with a question:  If they were able to make that switch to L.A. County, why have they not spread beyond Malibu? Only a small portion of their habitat was impacted by the Palisades Fire.

(Russell Campbell/Courtesy Free-Flying Los Angeles Parrot Project)

Flapping to new frontiers

One of the ideas the team investigated was whether the nanday parakeets stayed put because there weren’t any suitable habitats around.

At the time of their analysis, the team found multiple areas where nandays could potentially thrive but hadn’t been spotted in yet. That included a coastal-facing canyon near Fillmore, next to Thousand Oaks, with sycamores.

John McCormack's lab has multiple parrot study specimens.

(

Cato Hernández

/

LAist

)

Then, during their research, they noticed something had changed in that area.

“Lo and behold, we see on iNaturalist that, in fact, there has been this little persisting block of them in the canyon,” he said.

A small group of nanday parakeets have been there for about six months — the first stable population above the 101. Brenda Ramirez, a  research technician on the project, says the community science observations on iNaturalist is what makes their work possible.

“People always get so excited about these birds, and so it’s really wonderful that they get included in our research,” she said.

It’s not clear how the nandays got to these canyons. There’s a possibility it could be a repeat of the past — the birds may have escaped or been released from somewhere nearby.

Or, it could be a sign of changing behavior. Historically, nandays have been reluctant to cross infrastructure like the 101 Freeway. (Maybe they took a page from L.A.’s departed legend, the mountain lion P-22?)

McCormack says it goes to show that if given enough time in the parrot world, interesting things can happen. Next, his team will look into the birds’ DNA to see if there are other signs parrots are adapting to urban life.

Jubilations to the sky! Have you heard the news? Costco is now selling Heinz baked beans. Thank you Costco! And not just that… the British kind!

(Ask any Brit you know who has tried American baked beans. They just taste .... different. Much too sweet. We don’t tend to show much emotion generally but a disappointment like that is not easily gotten over. I’ve seen weeping in the streets.)

And if there are now easily accessed British baked beans in L.A., that means there will be beans on toast at my house. I know that Americans generally don’t get it. As someone once said to me, "you can have beans. You can have toast. But why would you put the beans on the toast?" Because, dear American, you did not grow up in a country where you can put pretty much anything on toast.

Baked beans are now being sold at Costco!

(

Suzanne Levy

/

LAist

)

You see, we got used to putting things on toast during World War II — rationing and making do and all that. Bread was cheap and available, so why not make it the base of some delicious dishes? Mashed banana on toast? Yummy. Sardines? With a bit of vinegar, lovely. And how about spaghetti hoops? That one really blows American minds. "Wait, you put pasta on toast? Carb on carb?" Yes sir, and it tastes heavenly. The tomato sauce slowly seeps into the toast below, making for a wonderfully gooey texture. It is a work of art.

(There’s also cheese on toast, also known as Welsh rabbit, which I always thought was odd given we were not in Wales and there was no long-eared animal involved, but apparently it’s a corruption of the word rarebit. In case you were wondering).

Like mac and cheese

Beaked beans on toast. Yum

(

Suzanne Levy

/

LAist

)

But for us beans on toast is the most loved option. We all grow up on it, an affordable go-to for weary mums. In many ways, beans on toast is our mac and cheese. Bland yet tasty, the perfect comfort food. For years as an adult, when I went back home for a visit from America, I’d ask my mum to have beans on toast waiting for me when I walked in.

I’m happy to say I’ve got my daughter into baked beans on toast. She resisted at first but now loves it. My American husband has never really developed a taste but understands its centrality in my life. Early on when we were dating, I asked him for egg, beans and toast. As in scrambled eggs, baked beans and toast, a classic breakfast combo.

When he’d made it he walked in and asked if it should be toast, egg and then the beans on top, or toast, beans and then the egg. I almost sputtered. Of course the beans have to go on top of the egg! What are we, peasants? The heavy egg would squash the beans and unbalance the whole precarious structure! He’s never made that mistake again. And has become an expert in making a lovely cup of tea.

So if you see me, feel free to join me in celebrating this major baked bean news. I may have baked beans on toast every night for dinner this week. Just because! It brings a little bit of Britain to my home. There is a New Yorker cartoon which has a man asking a waiter for baked beans on toast. “I’m not British,” he says. “I’m just crazy.” That cartoon is now on my wall.