Warning to US east coast mers

[Echidna]

Portuguese Man o' War have been spotted as far up north as New Jersey

http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/gulf_stream_current_carries_deadly_jellyfish_like_ man_o_war_new_jersey_beach_harvey_cedar_paralyzing _sting/49484268

So be careful if you go to the beach.

[Merman Dan]

Cudos to the reporter for calling them "jellyfishlike", as they are actually siphonophores.

[Ciriun]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning. For once I'm glad I'm not near the ocean.

[Cordelia]

Yikes!!!

[PearlieMae]

Cudos to the reporter for calling them "jellyfishlike", as they are actually siphonophores.

Thanks, Dan...I totally wouldn't have understood 'jellyfishlike'.

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[Merman Dan]

But they're so pretty! Deadly Beauty (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/features/2014/08/140821-portuguese-man-of-war-animal-ocean-science-pictures/)

[MerShellly]

Ikr! They're so cute!!! Ugh.

[Merman Dan]

If I ever finish my sargassum seaweed sleeve, touch-ups on my octopus and seadragon, adding a dragon moray to my chest, and then a full back piece THEN I want a man o' war on one leg and a winding strand of kelp on the other.

[MerShellly]

If I ever finish my sargassum seaweed sleeve, touch-ups on my octopus and seadragon, adding a dragon moray to my chest, and then a full back piece THEN I want a man o' war on one leg and a winding strand of kelp on the other.
dayum. can't get more merman than that. :thumbs-up::thumbs-up::thumbs-up:

[Fun123joker]

what else have been going up the coast lately? my dad told me that there was a hammer head spotted in ocean city so they had to evacuate the water and i was telling my dad how stupid that was because they barley attack people!!! they eat stingray. but my parents never listen

[PhaylennMurúch]

wow, the east coast is getting it hard isn't it? first all of those shark snacks (I refuse to call them attacks, it's not like they're actively trying snag people, kwim?) and now this.

[MerShellly]

wow, the east coast is getting it hard isn't it? first all of those shark snacks (I refuse to call them attacks, it's not like they're actively trying snag people, kwim?) and now this.
Aww I love that! Shark snacks! That reminds me of how my grandmother doesn't say the word "blood," she says "teddy bear stuffing." :3 But yeah wasn't there like 6 shark attacks in the last 2 weeks? :(

[Merman Dan]

Seven, counting today. Man at Ocracoke Island Fights Off Shark, Gets Bitten Several Times (http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/local/2015/07/01/another-shark-attack-ocracoke-island/29571367/) The second highest number of shark encounters in recent years was ten years ago, when there were four encounters. Still, in the past ten years there have been no fatalities.

[Ciriun]

Yup, definitely staying an inland, primarily domesticated mer. Nothing but pools and maybe the occasional quiet lake or creek for me.

[Cordelia]

... and teacups! :lol ^:

[Ciriun]

:lol: I love you for that, Cordelia. I really have to get off my butt and start a thread offering custom teamaids for people on here.

[CheshireKat]

:: shudders :: I was swimming at the beach in south padre island and got stuck in a swarm of them, damn near drowned, then nearly died in the emergency room. It was one of the most painful experiences in my life and I still get a slight panic attack from just seeing one. Which is sad cause they're so pretty and some of my favorite colors. :(

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[Ciriun]

Cheshire, that is both terrible and terrifying! My one tiny jellyfish sting is nothing compared to that, although I'm still annoyed that the lifeguards had literally no first aid supplies that would help with stings.:thumbdown: May no one else on here ever have a bad run in with these creatures.

[CheshireKat]

I love jellyfish and man-o-wars cause they're so pretty, I just can't be in the water with them, and they pretty much set me off in panic mode. What sucks is that I'll STILL get a random phantom shooting pain in some of the areas I was stung even though it was like, 7 years ago! I'll just be chilling out doing foot/ballet exercises or playing a video game and BAM! intense shooting pain!

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Cheshire, that is both terrible and terrifying! My one tiny jellyfish sting is nothing compared to that, although I'm still annoyed that the lifeguards had literally no first aid supplies that would help with stings.:thumbdown: May no one else on here ever have a bad run in with these creatures.
Jellyfish stings, get someone to pee on you.

[CheshireKat]

Yup. Instead they had a guy go out and buy an economy size thing of meat tenderizer. It sucked. A lot.

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[Mermaid Mystery]

I heard from my buds at the Monterey bay aquarium that the pee thing was a myth.

[AptaMer]

Hi mermaidofthelabyrinth,

The problem with pee is that it's very variable. While it's true that organic acids like vinegar can be helpful for treating stings from most species of cnidarian jellyfish, pee can range from acidic, to neutral (pH 7) to basic, even in the same person at different times.

So what happens is that sometimes someone will try the pee technique on a jellyfish sting, and it will help, so that confirms their belief, but someone else will try it and either nothing happens, or the sting gets even worse, so they join the "pee doesn't work" camp.

Note that organic acids don't work on man-o-wars (or bluebottles, as some people call them.) They actually trigger worse stinging. Recommended first aid is getting the tentacles off ASAP and treating with heat, while getting the person to hospital for observation.

[AptaMer]

BTW- here's a link to a very comprehensive review on jellyfish treatment, for the folks who want to really get technical

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3640396/

[Ciriun]

I think someone actually did offer to pee on it but I was not allowing that. And to be fair I don't think Chesapeake bay usually has jellyfish problems, so the lifeguards probably didn't need to be prepared for it most of the time. But it was very frustrating in the moment to have a lifeguard who could only shrug their shoulders over the fact that I was in pain and there were abnormal numbers of little jellies in the water.

And thank you, Apta. That is very useful information to know.

[Mer-Crazy]

Oh I saw this come up on my news feed. Me and my friends pissed ourselves laughing at how seriously it was being taken. I mean no offence to anyone who has been stung by them, I know it hurts. A lot. But here where I live they're pretty common it's more like 'oh great, blue bottles in the water again' rather than making news.

[Capt Nemo]

They can't sting through lycra, so hit the dive shops for lycra diveskins before going out.

One trip from my dive shop hit Cozumel after a hurricane. The waves pulverized the men of war and little pieces were everywhere. Everyone hit the functioning stores for any pantyhose that they could find. It worked!


They can sting through a latex exam glove, so latex will trigger the stinging cells.

[Moana.the.mermaid]

Oh I saw this come up on my news feed. Me and my friends pissed ourselves laughing at how seriously it was being taken. I mean no offence to anyone who has been stung by them, I know it hurts. A lot. But here where I live they're pretty common it's more like 'oh great, blue bottles in the water again' rather than making news.
I hear ya! I used to live on Oahu and got stung at least once every six months. There's actually a plant on the shore of Hawaii that, if you pick the leaves and form it into a paste, is a natural anasthetic. So I used to apply that then head home to treat it and then just walk back.

I think the worst was when I swam through the tentacles and my blistered underneath.

Man o wars suck but if you treat yourself right, you'll be fine. You only have a bad reaction if you're allergic. Most people don't know, though, unless they've been stung.

much love, one love - Moana

[AptaMer]

Do watch the jelly reports, though, for the Caribbean box jellyfish which has made its way to Oahu somehow. They are predictable, so the reports can be used to stay out of trouble.

http://www.jyi.org/issue/the-blob-that-attacked-waikiki-the-box-jellyfish-invasion-of-hawaii/

[AptaMer]

Concerning jelly sting treatments, I think this finding by Dr. Yanigahara of the University of Hawaii is very interesting. Has lots of potential. Should you carry zinc gluconate cream to the beach in your backpack? Or take zinc supplements? Maybe too early to tell, but I hope this leads to hepful preventatives & treatments.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/dont-pee-on-it-zinc-emerges-as-new-jellyfish-sting-treatment/