Portuguese Man of War

[diverdad]

A good idea would be to take vinegar with you if you are going to the ocean. But if you do get stung and don't have anything to put on it(this is really gross but it does work) you can Pee on the sting. The Ammonia in urine will work all most as good as vinegar. Just 2 cents .

[Aussie]

We call them Blue bottles. They are a problem especially in summer over here when the northern afternoon winds blow them in. Huge numbers of them. The high tide mark has this long line of blue that goes for miles on the beach.

I have been stung so many times over the years. Its just one of those things over here if your in the ocean. Some of the big ones have tails 2-3m long and if your swiming or surfing they just rap around you and sting you everywhere.
My worse spot was when i was diving once I had one in my reg. I put my reg in and I was instantly stung on my tongue and I had to pull the bloody thing out. I wasnt a happy diver on that dive.

Aussie

[CrzyJay456]

Originally Posted by coralcrazed

for those of us who have kids... does this look like a cool float to play with???
http://www.aboututila.com/Photos/Ada...n-o-War-01.JPG
well these things wash up on beaches all of the time so watch the little ones.
http://www.criticalmiami.com/images/402.jpg
http://novikov.com/foto/tt/030402-25.jpg
http://www.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/pics/2001-06=bermuda/man-o-war.jpg
http://www.beachhunter.net/images/th..._cocoa_bch.jpg

man this one almost makes me want to go over and play with it...
http://www.geoffschultz.org/Reef/Cre...316_144410.JPG

Fyve told me that when Black-gorrilla was younger he actually grabbed one of these things... so i guess you are right... it looks like fun for kids!

[Aussie]

Vingar for Jellyfish (ie box jelly,Irukandji)

Ice for blue bottles (portuguese man o war)

Aussie

[scubasavvy]

Those things are supposed to be nasty. I saw one on the beach once when I was on Marco Island in Florida...yikes...it was seriously like 4 feet across...

[Aussie]

Originally Posted by airmitch

I've been diving for over 20 years, and until this incident, haven't had a sea creature problem.

So here is the story. I was kayaking in a salt water creek in North Carolina. Kayak tipped, I go into the water- no big deal. When I got out, I noticed a big red welt on my thigh. Within minutes it started to burn like hell. The island I was on had no MD, but did have a paramedic. He took one look at it and declared a Portuguese Man of War sting. Said that they wash up with storm activity and get pulled into the creeks with tidal flow. Had me rinse it in vinegar and "shave" it with a knife to remove remaining nemocysts. By that night I had a 103deg fever. Trip to ER, antibiotics, antihistamines, and a miserable three days of unbelievable itching and burning of extremities followed.

Four months later, and the welt is starting to dissipate, and the burning is dieing down.

The moral of the story-

Even dead jellyfish can sting

You don't have to be diving in the ocean to get stung

The sooner you properly treat a suspected sting, the less toxin enters your body. If you suspect that you've been stung, don't be a hero, get treatment

This doesnt sound like a Portuguese man o war sting. You feel them straight away not minutes after. There is a number of other marine stingers that can give symptoms as discribed above.

http://www.marinestingers.com/marinestingers/index.html

This site has a few on what we get over here in Australia.

Aussie

[scubasavvy]

That kind of makes me want to wear a wetsuit constantly...

[Aussie]

Rashies are a must in summer.

Aussie

[coralcrazed]

hey ASSIE... mate are you saying NOT to put vinigar on man of war stings... instead ice it?

some examples of box jelly for ID
http://static.flickr.com/43/113587811_c29df5745a.jpg
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...e_021202-1.jpg

[Black-Gorrilla]

Originally Posted by CrzyJay456

Fyve told me that when Black-gorrilla was younger he actually grabbed one of these things... so i guess you are right... it looks like fun for kids!

i actually did grap one of these things when i was like 10 or 11... just looked so cool.
someone put some vodka on my finger and wrapped it up and it cooled me down and got rid of the pain (some of it at least)
it was gone in a few days... a week tops.

i feel bad for the OP because that is a long time to deal with something like this. glad your better.