*mystery solved* curious scattering on Oregon Coast

Thanks to my friend Erica for identifying these curious bodies as velella. They were all along the beach near Pistol River, washed in with the tide. 

Known as "by-the-wind sailors," they typically live in the open ocean, but when warm water and storms draw them near shore, the wind blows them onto beaches, where they die in stinking piles. 
These creatures, whose scientific name is Velella velella, aren't actually jellyfish, but hydrozoans, related to the Portuguese man-of-war.
http://www.livescience.com/47159-sailing-sea-creatures-wash-ashore.html​