I’m telling you, blue dragon nudibranchs bring people together. After finding her very first blue dragon (and then another and another) after the recent big seas, my friend excitedly sent me a photo and the location. While I was running and grabbing my husband, she was messaging her entire dive group. Once down on the beach, as we were carefully scooping them up with wet sand – more on if they can sting later – and setting them down into pools of water, their ‘wings’ unfurling and uncurling and revealing their absolute jaw-dropping beauty, people stopped and looked on in fascination.

So, what is it about this tiny blue marine creature that makes us all drop what we’re doing and look on in awe?

While blue dragons (Glaucus atlanticus) are nudibranchs and nudibranchs are mostly found on the ocean floor and in the lower water column, these guys swallow an air bubble and float on the ocean surface. They’re often floating along up there with what’s known as the ‘Blue Fleet’, which features other surface floaters: bluebottles, blue buttons, by-the-wind sailors and violet snails. 

As they are usually found out on the ocean, they’re not an everyday sight which means any stranding will get locals talking. Now this statement is loaded with a bold assumption and a good dash of anthropomorphism but here goes anyway: blue dragons love nothing more than feeding on bluebottles. They store away the stinging cells, which they’re immune to, in the tip of their ‘wings’ so in theory, these nudis can give you a sting. And here’s where I come in.

When we got to the beach, it took a minute or two of walking the tide line to find our first specimen. Their very small, soft, squishy bodies are often smooshed up and caught in debris so can be really tricky to find. But once we spotted our first, this innate need to try to save them kicked in and we all worked quickly to put them back in water; scooping them up with wet sand or on scallop-like shells and into rockpools. We all knew this was a pretty fruitless task and watched with a sad sense of inevitability as later the tide rose and washed them out of the safety of their little pool and back up on the sand. 

And while we waited and watched, I noticed a strange sensation. My fingers, which I had used to help the nudis unfurl once in the water, felt cool. Like they’d been dipped in a tub of toothpaste or maybe chilli. Definitely no stinging, but a cool sensation all the same. Was I getting a taste of the nudibranch’s defence system?

Australian Geographic asked sea slug expert Steve Smith about the stinging potential of the blue dragon. He said, “I’ve picked them up many times and I haven’t been stung. They’re not like bluebottles.They may have the capacity to sting but it doesn’t mean they’re going to do it every time.” He did, however, still urge caution. Which I didn’t listen to. 

So do they sting? Well, I didn’t get stung. Not painfully so, anyway. I also, thankfully, didn’t have an allergic reaction. But something happened. Maybe it was the night air coming in. Maybe it was my own stupidity with a bit of bluebottle ingenuity thrown in, but when news of a blue dragon stranding gets you running to the beach (and it will), use your brain and not your hands when trying to help them out.