JELLY FISH

[Thunderkat]

When I was in hawaii a local told me 7 days after a full moon, man 'o war jelly fish would wash up on shore.

Sure enough I went out there and there were man 'o wars all over the beach. They were still alive too. The first thing I did was try to get one of them to sting me just to see what it would feel like. None of them would, if I would have jumped in the water I am sure they would but I only wanted to get stung once not over a hundred times.

Even the smallest ones had incredibly long tentacles, I saw one that had a quarter sized float with over 10 foot long tentacles.

I took a few and put them in my aquarium and fed them some ham but no matter what I did I could not get them to live past 3 days (I tried it a few times).

Jelly fish are really cool though but hard to keep. Get us pics of your jellyfish if you can!

By the way if you do get stung rub the area with a dull knife to remove nematocysts.

[DeletedAccount]

Stephen A has one in his small aptasia tank.

[don-n-sa]

The first thing I did was try to get one of them to sting me just to see what it would feel like. None of them would, if I would have jumped in the water I am sure they would but I only wanted to get stung once not over a hundred times.
By the way if you do get stung rub the area with a dull knife to remove nematocysts.

I am not sure why anyone would want to be stung by a man o war...I have been stung and it is not fun...as why you couldn't get one to sting you well you must have been extremly lucky because all you have to do it touch the tentacles. They will be able to sting long after the animal is dead.

As for the removal of the nematocysts with a dull knife, I guess it would be posssible to remove some but it would already have injected the chemicals in the skin so I don't think that it would be much relief at all.

here is a picture of the different kinds

[Thunderkat]

How many people can say they have been stung by a jellyfish? :lol :lol

[Reef69]

I agree with Don, its not funny at all. Its like wanting to get beaten with a sledge hammer just for the fun of it...

[don-n-sa]

**** , I know that hurts...there are some species of them that can be fatal also.

I have been stung twice , once in the back of the leg while attempting to surf.( its hard to do in Florida unless there is a hurricane on the way )

The other time was horrible. I was snorkeling in Boca Raton going up and down a shallow reef when a man-o-war basically covered most of my face. I was not looking at the surface because I was captivated by a 4ft barracuda. A wave splashed it on my face. >_< LUckily the was a lifegard present who applied first aid and gave me immediate relief. I think they used meat tenderizer or something..I forgot I was only 11 yrs old.

And no I did not let anyone use Pee. :blink

[don-n-sa]

wow...small world huh.

I grew up in various areas of South Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, Davie, Tamarac, North Lauderdale...etc.

I really miss it...some day I will go back. I guess that is why I am so addicted to this hobby.

I also miss the awesome trips to Bimini ( Bahamas ) the absolute clearest water that I have ever seen. You could see starfish on the bottom at 50ft. depth!!

[Polkster13]

My wife was stung by a man-o-war on her leg off the TX coast. For several years after that, she would break out in that area.

Box jellies from Australia have been documented to have been the COD for several swimmers. Those that did survive have horrible scars. Not funny at all.

[GaryP]

I remember swimming on beaches in Australia that had nets to prevent box jellyfish from getting into the swimming areas.

[Thunderkat]

Box jellyfish are the ones the Navy says to watch out for, I guess those are the really bad ones.

[Polkster13]

They have one of the most toxic poisons of any organism know to science! Very few people have survived thier encounter hence the swimming nets. VERY, VERY nasty.

[GaryP]

That area is known for very toxic critters: Box jellyfish, sea snakes, blue ring octopus, etc.