Jellyfish on St. Maarten

[Loyal Royal]

Any time you enter any ocean you may have a variety of company. Remember it's their house. If you concider the number of beach people on any given day to the number of problems, ie jelly fish, sharks, man of war etc, the percentage is very low. Enjoy the beach and just be ware.

[Aquahound]

A professional diver recommended it to me so maybe the cynical poster above is incorrect and maybe it would actually help. it is not expensive.

 

Are you referring to my post where I said there is no such thing as a sunscreen lotion that repels jellyfish?

 

If so, I was responding to karle's post asking about sun screen that repels jellyfish. Repeling jellyfish and softening the sting are two different things. SeaSafe does lessen the sting, but it does nothing to repel the sea creature.

 

There is nothing cynical about that. It's truth.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

Come on? Seriously. You're missing out on soooo much.

I don't know? Just makes me shake my head.

Oh well, to each their own.

 

By the way. That's me on the left with the Caribbean Reef sharks.

It's all about catching "rush".:p

 

My husband and I both feel the same way about salt water, so we are a perfect match. I don't think I'm missing anything, every time I take a submarine ride while on vacation I can see what's down there without ever having to touch it.;)

 

I'm a city girl, touching nature isn't for me, I'm fine with that.:D

[Paul65]

When I was in Panama City Beach earlier this summer, there were literally thousands of Manta Rays swimming around quite close to the shore. Some people were staying out of the water to avoid them; others were grabbing snorkel gear and getting into the water to get as close as possible to them. I was in the latter group. :-D

[kiska]

One partial remedy for the stings is urine or vinegar, the former being more efficacious.

 

Vinegar yes, urine, while is considered a common remedy for jellyfish stings, is not actually acidic and will not do much. Source - NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/health/14real.html

 

Also, in the case of a Portuguese Man of War, vinegar is not advised as a remedy as it can cause more irritation.

 

Scary stuff, I never thought once about jellyfish on all my cruises or ocean adventures, hopefully I'll be able to avoid them.

[Aquahound]

Vinegar yes, urine, while is considered a common remedy for jellyfish stings, is not actually acidic and will not do much.

 

That is very true. Urine is an urban legend. I tried it a couple times among my numerous stings and it never worked.

[sgermic]

I think we can all thank that one random 'Friends' episode for popularizing that myth.

 

Aaaaand I'm pretty sure jellyfish of any kind are my mortal enemies.

[Paul65]

I think we can all thank that one random 'Friends' episode for popularizing that myth.

 

Aaaaand I'm pretty sure jellyfish of any kind are my mortal enemies.

 

I'm not familiar with the 'Friends' episode, but I think that myth has been around much longer than that show.

[minnie00]

Come on? Seriously. You're missing out on soooo much.

I don't know? Just makes me shake my head.

Oh well, to each their own.

 

By the way. That's me on the left with the Caribbean Reef sharks.

It's all about catching "rush".:p

 

just had to say "your crazy" :p heeeheeee omg...scary tho...you are so brave:):):)

[ehfl]

It's all about situational awareness. Always pay attention to what's going on around you in the water (and in life in general). Jellyfish are super easy to avoid. They don't swim fast, and even the slowest person can outrun them. Just be aware of what's going on.

 

Most stings are pretty mild...no worse than a mosquito bite, and usually much less.

[PokerStarNH]

We had a large jellyfish here in New Hampshire last month. It was dead but still 150 people were stung. Read the article here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,597403,00.html

The stinging cells can still fire even when the jelly is dead or the tentacles broken off.

[time4me2fly]

In June, at Stone Island in Mazatlan 6 people in my group were stung by jellyfish. The waiter had them rinse off in the shower and he sprayed them with WD40. It helped take the sting away.

 

A little boy about 4 years old was walking along the beach in ankle deep water and he was stung by a jellyfish. We got the waiter to spray him with the WD40, also.

 

I wasn't out in the ocean, but was told the jellyfish were small and hard to see accept for the blue tenticles.

[SoCalCruzzing]

In June, at Stone Island in Mazatlan 6 people in my group were stung by jellyfish. The waiter had them rinse off in the shower and he sprayed them with WD40. It helped take the sting away.

 

A little boy about 4 years old was walking along the beach in ankle deep water and he was stung by a jellyfish. We got the waiter to spray him with the WD40, also.

 

I wasn't out in the ocean, but was told the jellyfish were small and hard to see accept for the blue tenticles.

 

 

NEVER rinse jelly stingers with fresh water, it causes the nemocysts to fire off the rest of the venom, best thing to do is rinse with the salt water right by you if you do not have vinegar close to hand

[yogi]

I agree with possibly Portugese man of war. I was standing in the water with hundreds of other people in St Lucia when I just dropped under the water with exruciating pain. Luckily I was with people to pull me up. No one else was attacked. There was a storm at sea and they think that the long tentacles on the man of war likely just whipped around both of my legs. I looked like I had climbed over a barbed wire fence ....for days after!

[hardinggrad]

I got my husband to post a picture showing my sons run in with the box jellyfish.

[DaisyGirl55]

Hi Susan - I have to agree with your son...had this happened to me, I am not sure I would ever swim in the ocean again!

Living in Florida we are at the beach quite often. I just try not to think about what is in the water with me!