Man-o-War / Box Jellyfish

[beachlawyer]

but I purchased Safe Sea (available with or without suncreen) developed to lessen the chances of a sting, or at least the severity....I tried it while in Cozumel in March...There were swarms of thimble jellies at the surface (which to my knowledge DO NOT sting) but as I had stretched my round window in my ear I was snorkeling only.....There were two other kids in bathing suits and a DM from the boat with me....I didn't realize it but there were some smaller clear jellies in with the thimbles and I was literally parting them with my hands and they were floating against my face....When we got out...The kids and the DM who had on a tank top and shorts looked like they had been in a wasps nest....I didn't have one whelt... Wouldn't test it on purpose against a Man o' war or box jelly or even swarms of jellies at the surface, we just had to wait for the boat to come 'round and pick us up after the drift divers...But I wear it as my sunscreen in warm waters...My friend has a red mark from a small jellyfish in Fiji on her jaw that hasn't completely disappeared after 1 1/2 years....They have a website that tells how they developed the product which is an interesting story itself.

 

[mpgunner]

Man, I saw a show, recreation, of two people in AUS that got stung by Box Jelly's. Pretty scary. Such a small jelly can do so much damage.

 

[driftwood]

They were referring to one specific box-type jellyfish, the iracongi ( I KNOW I spelled that one wrong), and get hit by one of them you are in deep trouble. The most common box-type jellyfish most people run into is the sea wasp.

My wife was stung by a sea wasp on Bonaire and it was not fun to watch. Serious hydrocodone to relieve the pain and she was down for a couple of days. One critter you want to avoid.

 

[Beau McCormack]

Living in Australia and growing up around the ocean I have seen thousands of Blue Bottles a close relative of the Man o War there tentacles can reach several meters. Once while surfing in a remote location on the Central Coast NSW I had one rap around my arm and across my chest It was very painful and left welts on my skin for some time. Now I live in Cairns on the GBR we have box Jelly Fish along the beaches from the months between November to May They have only been seen a maximum of 7-8 Kilometers off shore( however this is rare) so they don't pose much of a risk to Scuba divers as most dives are conducted much further out .The hot topic in recent years is the Irukandji also a cubezone but much smaller(approx 25mm diameter typically with one small tentacle from each corner of the bell) than its cousin the Box jelly fish, these can be found anywhere in our north tropical waters of Aus . First discovered in 1964, to my knowledge only 3 people have died from this creature. Tow had hypertension & taking blood thinning drugs and dieing from cerebral hemorrhage. We advise swimmers to wear Lycra suits to protect them selves. Stings from these creatures are rare. Scientists believe there are several species that give the Irukandji syndrome. We recommend vinegar to neutralise tropical jelly fish stings.

 

[dsstandiford]

3 mm will do fine. The chances of you running into these creatures is slim. The chances of you running into these creatures in Ga (or Fl) is less than slim.

Wouldn't say that. I've seen Man O Wars washed up on the beaches during heavy surf days at Tybee Island off Savannah Georgia. The gulf stream in August gets relativly close to the coast.

The reduced vis we get around the shelf here in GA isn't that great. Just pray you never meet one. Because lord knows you won't see one.

 

[wreckchick]

I saw a slew of man o' wars on Deerfield Beach a few years back and me, not knowing what they were at the time, did the dive anyway, in a drysuit. After I got back to the hotel and figured out what was what, I decided I'd better give the suit a good ol' rinse in the tub. And this is how I ended up getting stung by a man o' war in a bathtub. The fresh water made the nematocytes that hadn't fired, fire when I shoved my arms under the water to dunk the suit. I don't do that anymore

I've seen more than a few in the keys and managed to back roll on top of one and get it all wrapped around my regulator, too much fun. A cortisone shot helped with that one tremendously.

Hate, hate, hate the little purple buggers.

Rachel

 

[Scuba-Stu]

You'll be fin so long as you don't take one in the face

 

[En Bloc]

In the Gulf of Mexico the Portuguese Man o' War get stuck in the waves and wash ashore often.

I was swimming at North Padre Island (great place without the crazy kids) and came face to face with the purple air bladder. I started back paddling and in my panic didn't realize that the current I was creating was actually pulling the tentacles into my legs.
I got onshore really quickly and within 30 sec or so it felt like my legs where on fire.
The pain got worse; at the peak it felt like 10,000 wasps stinging me at the same time.
I made it to a first aid stand in about 20 minutes, and felt immediate relief after being sprayed with a vinegar solution in a spray bottle.
I was told at the time that urine will also neutralize the sting as well, if you have a buddy that is nice enough to pee on you