Tonight's the night for Bonaire sea wasps!

[drrich2]

8 1-week trips to Bonaire, usually with some night diving, 1st time that happened to me, so I'd still be inclined to night dive in the future.

On the subject of exposure protection, I don't use a wet suit. I wear swim trunks and a gift from a friend of mine, a Champion brand 3x long-sleeved shirt that's made for runners, as it 'quick dries,' so to speak. I wear it for protection from the sun. It's loose, which is important since I don't have a physique that calls for form-fitting, and leaves me less exposed skin to rub sunscreen on. The quick drying is important, because sea water has microbes, and if I don't thoroughly rinse trunks and shirt daily, after about 2 days of diving those dead microbes from sea water give me and my clothes, er, a 'personality.' But quick trying, easy to rinse attire like that shirt and swim trunks rinse pretty easily, dry fast and stay relatively fresh for days.

More info. about me than most people want to know, but useful. That tropical sun is no joke. I'm light complected, and took a bottle of Coppertone Ultra-Guard water resistant SPF 70+ sunscreen (from Walmart) and came home about as white as I left.

Richard.

 

[gypsyjim]

I probably have well over 50 night dives on Bonaire by now and have never had a problem with jellies, beyond my son's experience, and that he really caused himself by not listening to the pre dive discussion.

---------- Post added June 4th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ----------

I do usually wear a dive skin which is little more than a thin rash guard, but even before that in just swim trunks and t shirt I never had any issues myself.

 

[carltona]

Big hit in 2006

Personal experience in Bonaire with Box Jelly/wasps. This was 2006. Returning to Buddy Dive docks with my 2 sons the youngest at the time was 16. 10:30 pm we were getting up the steps in 4' of water when my son screams and drops his light. He said he got an electric shock on his forearm. Didn't know what it was but he was visibly shaken. I removed his tank and told him to go lie down by the rinse tanks until I could get my gear and my other sons gear off. Before I got to him (maybe 60 seconds) some wannabe helper diver told him to run it under fresh water and scrub off the stingers. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Really long story shortened, a staff member of Buddy Dive ran us to the Bonaire hospital emergency room, which was closed. Phone calls made, in Dutch, rounded up a doctor and some more staff. Son had out or control heartbeat, dropping blood pressure, and extreme pain. Passed out several times. F*#king SCARY. He got several shots of epinephrine and steroids and spent from 11 pm to 4am in the emergency room. What they did got things under control but he was exhausted and hyped out on the drugs. The whole thing cost us $35. Gotta love socialized medicine.
He still has the scar on his arm to this day.

I am going back to Bonaire the end of July this year and I will not night dive during box jelly time unless I am completely covered and will put vaseline on the exposed face parts. (Don't know if that will work but I hope it does)
They are attracted to light. The convenient light hanging over the dive ladder at the resort is a calling beacon. They look like a condom in the water with 4 tentacles and they have good direction control and speed. Be warned.

 

[drrich2]

Carltona:

Thanks for sharing that experience. It's curious how individual reactions vary so widely, even allowing that how extensively a person gets stung will vary widely also. As I write this, on my right hand where I got stung there are faint tiny pink dots similar to your 2nd pic but much less evident, and my left calf has a rounded patch that's still rough looking but that's because it itched a lot the next day and I'm one of those scratching people who then picks scabs, so can't exactly blame the jellyfish for the whole thing. Yet a 'girl' (I'm guessing woman) was sent to the hospital the same night I was stung.

I think you hit on a couple of issues with socialized medicine; it was cheaper, but not as reliably immediately available when you needed it. I imagine you've heard about the recent scandal with some V.A. patients having ridiculously long wait times to be seen; that's basically a socialized medicine system. But it's often cheaper than private pay.

Richard.

 

[carltona]

Richard,
Don't want to start a debate about social medicine. All heathcare systems have their issues.
I was reading an article on the sea wasps of Bonaire and touch does not trigger their nematocysts to fire, its a chemical reaction to our skin. They also said that they don't fire 100% maybe only 20% so doing anything that causes the cells to refire makes things worse.
Haven't read whole thread yet, does anyone link to DAN on the first aid for these buggers? It's different than normal jellyfish I think but not like Man o War either. Would like to get educated before going back.
Carlton