A BEAUTIFUL velella jellyfish has washed up in Colwyn Bay, and at first confused residents as to what exactly it was.

The velella, more commonly known by the names sea raft, by-the-wind sailor, purple sail and little sail, was found on the beach near Horizon Shine kiosk by resident Louise Webster.

Ms Webster described it as the “about the size of a Calzone pizza”, and that it was in softer sand.

Unsure of what it was, she posted the image online, with some responses suspecting it may be a Portuguese Man O’ War, a hydrozoan which looks similar to the velella but which is not a jellyfish.

However, one person did add that had it been a Man O’ War, it would have been “a little out of place being round here!”

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One response seems to have cleared the mystery up, with the person saying: “Hard to tell without reference to size, but I think it’s a Velella jellyfish.

“Very closely related to Portuguese Man O' War, but not as dangerous.

“Relatively common in Welsh waters especially after a warm summer.”

The person added that their reason for it not being a Man O’ War was it having “no thick tentacles at all and the blue tinge, which tends to last a long time on the carcass, isn’t there.”