Jellyfffff-phobia

[coliseum]

People...

What experiences do you have handling or dealing with Jellyfish during dives...

I tend to start worrying whenever I see some around... the problem is when there are student around and you sure can't show them that you will freek out should the Jelly creature come close...

I would appreciate any advise on the subject.

 

[DJ69]

to us divers.

The problem with JellyFish is when you are with them in the waves. Then you can't see them coming.
But during dives you can see them very good, and since they tend to be slow moving, you just move aside. And if it's cold water then it's more simple as they don't penetrate the suit.

The biggest problem with them is during the end of the seasson as there are lot's of JellyFish stinging particles in the water, but they don't make the big nasty burns that stay for days.

Last time I got stang was when climbing back to the boat and one of them drifted on me and on the second DM that was with me. (she got it worse the poor girl)
Worse stang - I was playing with one, all wrapt in semi dry suit, including a 5mm glovs, and so I let myself to toch also the stinging parts of it while I was showing it to the group from very close. From some reason I wanted to scrach my upper lip and all the stinging polips that ware on my glove attacked me ;-0
I had bad burns (with blode and all) for over a month. - So just :shaking: play with them and you will be fine.

 

[jviehe]

I feel the same way. Jellyfish freak me out. The trick is to take one and torture it to make an example to the others...

 

[DJ69]

jviehe once bubbled...
The trick is to take one and torture it to make an example to the others...

I'v triad that and I'm sorry to report that it's not helping
The basterds just keep on comming

 

[GlockDiver]

I don't normally watch the Animal Planet Channel (something about pseudoswat teams going after animal abusers, and pet psychics that I feel is a waste of bandwidth), but I did catch their "Most Extreme" venomous creatures show last night. And turned out, Jellyfish is numero uno.

They were specifically looking at a Jellyfish in Australia called the box jellyfish, if I remember correctly. The stingers however, were not very long, and lifeguards use pantyhose as protection.

Weird stuff. Just glad I don't have to worry about them in the Great Lakes.

 

[detroit diver]

I hate them. Period.

I was on a vacation with some friends before I learned to dive. We were going to snorkel until I saw a school of jellyfish in the water. No way I was getting in there.

So I sat on the bow of the boat suntanning while my friends got into the snorkelling thing. Nice and peaceful, quiet.

Then all of a sudden a jelly fish lands on my chest! I took a look at it and started freaking out and jumping around. Everyone on the boat was wondering what the heck was going on.

Then I heard the laughter from the water. Turns out that this one was a dead one with no tentacles attached and they just threw it at me! I think I needed a change of shorts after that.....

 

[coliseum]

I just did 2 dives with a student...

Well, the jellies were there... white ones with tentacles 2 to 4 feet long... I know a friend who got stung... well his skin turned black from the burns...

So, I wore a full suit the only exposed place was parts of my face...

One way I keep them away is using my Octopus as a weapon! PURGE AIR at them... I think it kills them or something... specially when they are above you...

 

[Walter]

The secret is swallow them whole. It's when you chew 'em you have problems.

 

[Charlie99]

coliseum once bubbled...
One way I keep them away is using my Octopus as a weapon! PURGE AIR at them... I think it kills them or something... specially when they are above you...

The air/water mixture from the purging shoots up and makes a clear hole in the layer of jellyfish near the surface. This works pretty good if you purge repeatedly while ascending (slowly) from safety stop, since most of the time jellyfish are near the surface.

The movement of water by purging was really obvious to me on one dive where a cloudburst in the mountains washed down a bunch of silt during the dive, and there was a thick layer of silt about 2' deep at the surface. Purging from below would make a bright clear blue hole through the silt.

 

[lordoftheOrings]

its ironic that i saw this post, today when i was diving i saw a jelly fish which we call the man of war and its the most freaky
looking jelly fish you have ever seen ....tentacles about 8 feet long
and if you touch it say good night

coliseum
man i wish i could even think about diving with out a full suit ..i dive with a 7mm semi dry with dry zip and cuffs and i still freeze my ass off ..5 degree waters ....woohoo