Portuguese Man of war washed up on a beach

[Reefing_addiction]

Yes!!!!

 

[felda001]

But they are sooo pretty I wanna pet it and call it George!

You forgot to hug it and squeeze it

 

[Reefing_addiction]

You forgot to hug it and squeeze it

Squeeze it till it POPS!!

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Been stung twice in south florida surfing by them. Definitely dosen't feel good.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Been stung twice in south florida surfing by them. Definitely dosen't feel good.

How long did the pain last? Always heard the sting was rough

 

[Justfebreezeit]

How long did the pain last? Always heard the sting was rough

Pain probably 30 minutes or so and it slowly turns to itching. Then is raised and itches for a few days.

 

[DIYreefer]

We see these guys quite a bit here on the Texas Gulf Coast. As an avid surfer, I’ve had more run ins with them than I could count. You almost get used to the sting. Don’t get me wrong, it will absolutely wake you up… quickly, but it generally doesn’t last all that long. There is another type that we see her late summer/early fall that has a much worse sting (I have scars from them). Not sure what they’re actually called, but we call them “medusas.” They’re about the size of a dinner plate (generally flat like one as well), maybe a little larger and have 4 pink rings in the center. When I start seeing those guys I’m pretty much done surfing until the first cold front comes through and knocks the water temp down a little. Their sting is far worse than a man-o-war.

 

[Jasonak]

Ive been on beaches where there were hundreds of them washed up when I lived in australia, they called them blue bottles there. I didnt realize until years later that the Portuguese man o war and blue bottle was the same. I would have gave them little more respect, blue bottle was such benign name for them I was never to worried about it. They have something over there called a Irukandji that's super nasty critter.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Was a reef chemistry question of the day, but notably, some of the gas in the air bladder is carbon monoxide produced by the animal. Very unusual in the animal world.

would a house CO detector sense that?

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Another interesting thing about bluebottles is roughly half a population will have their bladder aligned to the left whilst the others will have their bladder aligned to the right. Dispersion in prevailing winds is therefore mixed.

 

[Lyss]

When my mom and aunt were kids they were on vacation at the Jersey shore when these things were on the coastline at the beach. My mom used to tell the story all the time -- the lifeguards called everyone out of the water but my aunt was on her back floating in the water and couldn't hear, so she was basically just floating out there with them for a bit before she realized she needed to get out of the water. Nothing happened, and nobody was hurt, but it was one of those things where they were like, wow that was close. My mom also said she remembered some of the long tentacles reaching all the way onto the beach.

 

[droblack]

Barely touched some broken tentacles off a dead one, and was in pain for a while. Hard to see the tentacles in the sand sometimes.

 

[Charles Zinn]

What a pretty sight but man. . . I would not approach this thing even on the sand!

Enjoy:

Used to live n Ft. Lauderdale, litle kids would pick up and try to eat, thought it was bubble gum. Surfing one time goy of board turning around got stumg from nerck down to navel, felt lucky t did give me a heartattack

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

would a house CO detector sense that?

Yes. Cut one open and try it. Lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

On second thought, don’t. Someone might not realize it’s a joke. But it would work if the CO did not just blow away.

 

[DIYreefer]

Barely touched some broken tentacles off a dead one, and was in pain for a while. Hard to see the tentacles in the sand sometimes.

I got stung once by changing the tire on my truck. There were a ton of them washed up on the beach, which subsequently got run over. Then I ran over a freakin fish bone that punctured my tire. When I went to change the tire I got zapped. Was not a fun day!

 

[edsbeaker]

Nightmares again tonight

 

[Txoutlaw]

I see them just about every yr here in south Texas."south padre island ".

 

[t5Nitro]

These things are pretty dangerous? I was just in Miami Beach and there were a ton of these washed up on the sand. Loads of them scattered up and down the beach.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

These things are pretty dangerous? I was just in Miami Beach and there were a ton of these washed up on the sand. Loads of them scattered up and down the beach.

I’d rank them on the lower end of things that can cause you pain when in the ocean.