Coco View for 2 weeks - booked

[pennypue]

For the extra weight, it's just not worth bringing the cave light unless I'll be in one!! And I really don't mind being in the dark.

 

[pennypue]

So what is good to wear while diving in Roatan in May? Trilam, 3mm, skin, shorty? I wore a shorty while diving in Maui and in the Caymans but would be cool by the end of the dives. We will be diving Nitrox while at CCV and don't want to have to end the dive because I get cold.

Well it was May when I was there last time and the 3 mil full worked well for me the whole time. I tend to get cold fairly easily too. WB wore a skin for protection and his 3mil shorty over it. And I don't recall him ever getting cold, or at least he never complained!!

 

[laserdoc]

penny,
Will the jellyfish be out staging an attack while we are there??
David

 

[Doc]

penny, Will the jellyfish be out staging an attack while we are there?? David

I checked. They're scheduled for the week after y'all will be diving. They're largely night critters.

Anywhere in the Caribbean (not just Roatan), many people eventually get irritations from an encounter with "sea lice" which are said to be larval jelly fish, sometimes misnomered locally as Thimble Jellies. This is most often seen in armpits, behind knees, the inner elbow and such similar areas... assumably protected by wetsuits! Given enough time, it will happen to most everyone. As many dives as I have done in the Mar Caribe, either I'm resistant or lucky. Not all that big a deal anyway.

The real icky bad thing you find in the Caribe is locally refered to as Sea Wasps and also called Box Jellies. Local nomenclature aside, they are easily described: The clear bodies look like the plastic wrapper from a pack of cigarettes, the four thin tentacles extend downward approximately 3 times the body length. I have seen them with bodies as small as a dime, all the way up to the size of a Fosters Can with 24" tentacles. Yo! Momma!

These: http://jellieszone.com/cubozoa.htm look like the ones I've seen in the Caribbean.

They are said to be found near the surface, but I believe that this is largely because that's where divers are most of the time and begin to notice them. I have seen them at depths of 80 feet at night. Locally, it is said that their presence is affected by tides, currents, lunar phase and there is always a reference to them coming out of the mangroves. I have spent a lot of time mucking about in 7 feet of water in tangles of mangrove roots but I can't verify that local lore- maybe I just wasn't observant enough.

How to avoid them? Look at what you are swimming in to. Duh!

Scan upwards and ahead with your light. Train your eyes and mind to look for things that are close. I have watched experienced divers swim right into jellies... there eyes were being concentrated on the reef that was 15 feet away.

As you ascend, look up. Concentrate and think. If you are ascending to a liveaboard which commonly has large lights that attract them... blow a lot of purged air up at them... it will blow them away and you may ascend. Yes, they are attracted to lights, so keep that in mind. If you are a video fan, you might want to tone down the '56 Chevy headlights.

Simple fact: a jelleyfish can not zap you through something as light as a pair of pantyhose. A light neoprene beanie http://www.terrapinwetsuits.com/accessor.htm is smart, or try a http://www.dee-rags.com/ for an easy cover up. You are most likely to get popped in your head and ears... pure physics.

If you ever do get zapped, try and keep a grip on it, will'ya? Aint nothing going to kill you, just advise your buddy that you are done diving and get out of the pool in a calm and orderly manner. Panic over this can escalate an irritation to a real problem.

Don't touch or scratch. Vinegar and Adolph's Meat Tenderizer seems to work. Any decent dive-op should have this available. Spritz-on Benadryl is a good thing. There are a thousand other remedies.

Mostly, it will be a right of passage and a good tale to tell.

 

[pennypue]

penny,
Will the jellyfish be out staging an attack while we are there??
David

hehehe.......Thanks Doc, I would have had no idea!!!

But given that I like jellies, they will most likely all stay away.
(Cincinnati's aquarium, Newport Aquarium, has a terrific room full of jellyfish. It's my favorite.)

 

[Doc]

But given that I like jellies, they will most likely all stay away.

Not all jellies are icky. There are some critters that look to me like they are in the Jellyfish family that are quite interestiung and harmless.

In the Caribbean I have seen smacks (yes, that's the right word!) of critters called Sea Walnuts. The water was thick with them! They are little brown walnut like critters. One day at CoCoView they were everywhere, the next day... gone! Turtle yummies?

Also Pellagic Venus Sea Girdles by the millions, hanging at 15fsw just blowing a tank dry under the Nekton. I looked up to the setting sun and these creatures became visible. The other way and they were all but visually gone. Maybe 1" diameter and 18" long, they were segmented and drifted along in the current.

There's a lot of those linked "chained" clear critters in the water column all the time. One of our favorite tricks is atthe end of a night dive. Get comfy in 5fsw and turn one light on and set it on the bottom pointing up. Amazing what clear critters come to dance in that shaft of bright light. You can see them only because your visual background is black. Larval crustaceans are truly extraterrestrial critters.

The area around CCV is also rife with what they call "upside-down jellies". Look them up, but the very short and stout tentacles face upwards, with the smooth bell resting against the ocean floor.

I have seen some absoultely terrifying looking jellies in the water column that I have been told later were perfectly harmless, we have even seen hyper-deadly man-of-war looking jellies, as well.

Or, upon spotting an interesting one in the distance, after paddling over to it you find it's just a plastic baggie, to be put in your BC pocket lest it imperil a Turtle.

The common and general books are pretty light in the area of ID on the Jellies of the Caribbean. Best rule: Don't fear but don't touch.

 

[k8brandt]

What we saw in June was Thimble Jellies all over the place. They don't bother you, but the (microscopic) larvae once crushed on your skin will leave a rash. Mostly around the neck, wrists and face, where your skin is exposed. Get some SafeSea from Dockside and follow the directions. The one time I didn't put it on was when they got me good. I had very nice hives all arond my neck. Olly, in the kitchen gave me some baking soda and vinegar and that really helped. Plus, taking a HOT washcloth and sratching the heck out of it. AHHHHHHHHH

Here's a link with more information - http://www.buysafesea.com/sea_lice.php

 

[Trixxie]

What we saw in June was Thimble Jellies all over the place. They don't bother you, but the (microscopic) larvae once crushed on your skin will leave a rash. Mostly around the neck, wrists and face, where your skin is exposed. Get some SafeSea from Dockside and follow the directions. The one time I didn't put it on was when they got me good. I had very nice hives all arond my neck. Olly, in the kitchen gave me some baking soda and vinegar and that really helped. Plus, taking a HOT washcloth and sratching the heck out of it. AHHHHHHHHH

Here's a link with more information - http://www.buysafesea.com/sea_lice.php

Thanks for this info, got mine ordered! between those and the noseeums I am going to be eaten alive....
I can be in a room of 100 people and 1 mosquito and be the only one who gets bit!