Wanna see some Jellyfish?

[GearHead]

Read this and I think you'll understand why I'm still alive: :haha:

http://www.b-v-i.com/Nature/marine.htm
"Sea Wasp Jellyfish. This jellyfish (carybdea alata), found in the West Indies and Caribbean, is a potentially dangerous jellyfish, especially to some individuals, although not as deadly poisonous as the Pacific Sea Wasp (chironex fleckeri), considered the creature with the deadliest venom of them all.

The Sea Wasp found in the Caribbean is a box jellyfish with a small, four-sided, bell- shaped body, up to 2 x 3 inches, though often resembling a one inch "cube." Its four tentacles average about 12 inches long, one attached to each bottom corner of the body."

Instead of swimming "in bursts of up to 5 feet per second" like the monsters from the pacific, the bursts of the guys that stung me were more like 5 inches per second. They were tiny!

But thanks for your concern!

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

Rick.... I don't think you really ran into a Chironex fleckeri (Australian box jelly aka seawasp)

Or are you just back from the dead to tell us your story too?

http://www.aglimpseofeternity.org/boxjellyfish.htm

 

[GearHead]

Come to think of it, if you had enough exposure protection, you might be able to grab hold of one of those Pacific Box Jellies for a Scooter ride. No fuel necessary, definitely no worries about theft. I'm going to call those guys at Gavin to get something started in R&D!

Uncle Pug once bubbled...

Rick.... I don't think you ran into a Chironex fleckeri (Australian box jelly aka seawasp)

Or are you just back from the dead to tell us your story too?

http://www.aglimpseofeternity.org/boxjellyfish.htm

 

[Dee]

THAT's the one I was thinking of instead of Man O' War...that's a horse, isn't it?

 

[neve]

A picture here

More info: http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/portugue.html

Scary

 

[clive francis]

i just got back from the red sea (deep south) and i accidentally caught fire coral.

i was trying to take a photo of some clown fish and the little buggers kept coming out and attacking my DS50 (i think they could see their reflection), and i was hovering for a real long time and didn't realise i was dropping slightly.

all of a sudden i felt the coral on my leg but it was too late, within seconds it was like having multiple lacerations and then pouring petrol in to them.

it blistered straight away and hurt like *%$@!!

got back on the boat and peed on it which helped to cool it down, 2 days later i was trying to photograph some others and i bloody did it again on the same knee in the same place, well all i can say is it is worse second time around, and people watching me must have thought a polaris missile was launching, because i jumped a mile,

did my 3 minute stop and got out, my leg was a mass of red swollen lumps, sting, no burning like hell, nearly a week later and the marks are still there and it itches like crazy.

I allways prided myself on perfect control and never touching the reef, but add a little swell and some damn annoying fish and there you have it.
;-0

 

[mddolson]

This photo was taken at Les Escoumins, Quebec, Canada
Last week by Dave Brown of Peterborough, Ontario
Water temperature was a balmy 36° F, in about 20 feet of water. North Shore Gulf of St Lawrence, this little critter is barely 2 inches in diameter.

Olympus digital camera in P010 housing.

Mike D
:blfish:

 

[Dee]

What a neat view of the innards!

 

[FredT]

I had one of those forced down the back of my wetsuit once by a breaking wave. It didn't kill me but it was definitely well into the third stage of sea sickness.

My buddy Al hauled me into the beach and helped remove my gear so we could get to it. Me swimming was NOT an option, I had enough trouble just concentrating on hanging on to the reg! He then went out alone and brought back a queen conch to rub on it. Definitely a good dive buddy. A half hour after the conch slime application I could walk again, and the sting healed without scarring. Queen conch are GOOD critters to have about! The re-seeding effort for these beasties in the Keys deserves our serious support.

Man-o-war may not kill you directly, but the side effects of a major sting can incapacitate you bad enough you'll run a serious chance of drowning.

FT

 

[clive francis]

whats one of them.....i know what a conche is.....is that a gay one?