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HMC and Jelly Fish?

MikeInPgh

By MikeInPgh,
in Holland America Line

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rickcohen2

rickcohen2

Posted
Posted

Ran into a patch of the lice off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Very interesting.

 

Not all that painfull, but unpleasent enough to want to get out of the water, like RIGHT NOW. They were in small patches that we seemed to swim out-of and in-to on our way back to the beach.

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bookworm0911

bookworm0911

Posted
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Wow, sea lice are frequent visitors to the florida coast but I didnt know it was a problem in the eastern caribbean. Sea lice are teeny tiny jellyfish. So tiny you cant see them eeeks !

The Florida coast and the Bahamas are only 50+ miles from each other. Weather, sea critters, etc affecting both are therefore very similar.

A lot of cruisers seem to think HMC is an Eastern Caribbean island because they are on a Caribbean cruise, but it is in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea which is quite a bit further south.

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Ziggy7

Ziggy7

Posted
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The Florida coast and the Bahamas are only 50+ miles from each other. Weather, sea critters, etc affecting both are therefore very similar.

 

A lot of cruisers seem to think HMC is an Eastern Caribbean island because they are on a Caribbean cruise, but it is in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea which is quite a bit further south.

Wow, thats good to know, I didnt realize that for sure :) Glad we didnt run into the little buggers last May at Princess Cays!!
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KCat

KCat

Posted
Posted
Wow, sea lice are frequent visitors to the florida coast but I didnt know it was a problem in the eastern caribbean. Sea lice are teeny tiny jellyfish. So tiny you cant see them eeeks !

 

My DH thinks I spend too much time reading all these posts and trying to plan the 'perfect' vacation. Which I admit...I do:p But, it's not just recreational it's educational too.

I've never heard of sea lice before. They sound scary!:eek: I hope we don't see them in January.

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lauderdalebob

lauderdalebob

Posted
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After living in Ft. Lauderdale at the beach for 6 years, I'm quite familiar with jellyfish/sea lice/man o war. Coming from Manhattan and San Francisco, I had never heard of sea lice before I moved here. Yes, sea lice are basically the larvae (as I recall) of jellyfish. Like dots of pepper.

 

The thing with sea lice is that you won't see them and probably won't feel them while in the water, but when they get you is when you come out of the water and go to sit down on your wet bathing suit, that's when they'll start to sting you, and from what I understand, the itching they cause can be intense. Intense enough to send some people to the hospital for relief. Benadyrl helps in some cases relieve the itching. They say that if you go swimming nude and wash off without sitting down afterward you'll be all right. It's that the eggs get caught in swimsuit and then when you put pressure on them, they sting.

 

They also make a product now (I'm sure you can find it by looking over the Internet) which is sold in drug stores here which will help with the relief. A kind of wipes I believe. The old wives tale here (which more or less is true) is don't go in the water between Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day as that's when they are most prevalent. I always call our local beach line here in the a.m. to find out what the 9:00 a.m. "sea pest" report is. They send the life guards out in the mornings to test the water and they report back. AND you thought they just saved lives! If they get stung, it's going to be a bad start to the day.

 

Also, as a note, florida gets man o war (which I understand in Australia are called blue bottles, because that's what they look like). At various times during the year you will see them in the water and washed ashore. I've seen many a tourist go over to the washed up ones and start to handle them. DON'T!! They may still be alive and can sting and it will hurt. That also goes for the clear washed ashore jellyfish.

 

Now that you've been educated, enjoy the beach and get in that water! Oh, forgot to mention to look for the shark fins too! Can be scary at times when you think about it all, but that doesn't stop me. Just be careful and aware!

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rumple

rumple

Posted
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OK, folks. I have something great to contribute to this thread.

 

I have been stung in the past by jelly fish, and if you have ever been stung you will know that you ask about them before you set foot in the water ever again! It HURTS!

 

Anyway, that said, I have found a suntan lotion the repels jelly fish! Tried it out, it works!

 

Here you go:

http://www.lifestylesdirect.com/safesea/home.cfm?source=goog&keyword=[keyword]

 

(and, no, I don't own or work for them!!)

 

Needless to say, I will have mine with me just in case!

 

Karen

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Ziggy7

Ziggy7

Posted
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OK, folks. I have something great to contribute to this thread.

 

I have been stung in the past by jelly fish, and if you have ever been stung you will know that you ask about them before you set foot in the water ever again! It HURTS!

 

Anyway, that said, I have found a suntan lotion the repels jelly fish! Tried it out, it works!

 

Here you go:

http://www.lifestylesdirect.com/safesea/home.cfm?source=goog&keyword=[keyword]

 

(and, no, I don't own or work for them!!)

 

Needless to say, I will have mine with me just in case!

 

Karen

I have heard about this stuff as well, I also heard it really works, just might have to get some myself :)

 

I also liked the "see if your beach has been effected" link, it was nice seeing all the possibilities!! Thanks for sharing this with us !!!!!! :)

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Ziggy7

Ziggy7

Posted
Posted
After living in Ft. Lauderdale at the beach for 6 years, I'm quite familiar with jellyfish/sea lice/man o war. Coming from Manhattan and San Francisco, I had never heard of sea lice before I moved here. Yes, sea lice are basically the larvae (as I recall) of jellyfish. Like dots of pepper.

 

The thing with sea lice is that you won't see them and probably won't feel them while in the water, but when they get you is when you come out of the water and go to sit down on your wet bathing suit, that's when they'll start to sting you, and from what I understand, the itching they cause can be intense. Intense enough to send some people to the hospital for relief. Benadyrl helps in some cases relieve the itching. They say that if you go swimming nude and wash off without sitting down afterward you'll be all right. It's that the eggs get caught in swimsuit and then when you put pressure on them, they sting.

 

They also make a product now (I'm sure you can find it by looking over the Internet) which is sold in drug stores here which will help with the relief. A kind of wipes I believe. The old wives tale here (which more or less is true) is don't go in the water between Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day as that's when they are most prevalent. I always call our local beach line here in the a.m. to find out what the 9:00 a.m. "sea pest" report is. They send the life guards out in the mornings to test the water and they report back. AND you thought they just saved lives! If they get stung, it's going to be a bad start to the day.

 

Also, as a note, florida gets man o war (which I understand in Australia are called blue bottles, because that's what they look like). At various times during the year you will see them in the water and washed ashore. I've seen many a tourist go over to the washed up ones and start to handle them. DON'T!! They may still be alive and can sting and it will hurt. That also goes for the clear washed ashore jellyfish.

 

Now that you've been educated, enjoy the beach and get in that water! Oh, forgot to mention to look for the shark fins too! Can be scary at times when you think about it all, but that doesn't stop me. Just be careful and aware!

Wow, thanks for sharing this with us too! Nice to get educated by someone you know online :)
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imsulin2

imsulin2

Posted
Posted

Well, Geez Louise!! We were on the April 9 Zuiderdam this year, and never saw/heard anything about these critters! It was a beautiful day on the best private beach in the world! The water was a bit cool, but we spent quite a bit of time in it - no problems at all. Guess I am just lucky...have managed to tender to HMC on every HAL cruise I've been on that goes there, and the only thing I was ever "bitten" by was the pina colada in the coconut. The price, I mean.

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rumple

rumple

Posted
Posted
After living in Ft. Lauderdale at the beach for 6 years, I'm quite familiar with jellyfish/sea lice/man o war. Coming from Manhattan and San Francisco, I had never heard of sea lice before I moved here. Yes, sea lice are basically the larvae (as I recall) of jellyfish. Like dots of pepper.

 

The thing with sea lice is that you won't see them and probably won't feel them while in the water, but when they get you is when you come out of the water and go to sit down on your wet bathing suit, that's when they'll start to sting you, and from what I understand, the itching they cause can be intense. Intense enough to send some people to the hospital for relief. Benadyrl helps in some cases relieve the itching. They say that if you go swimming nude and wash off without sitting down afterward you'll be all right. It's that the eggs get caught in swimsuit and then when you put pressure on them, they sting.

 

They also make a product now (I'm sure you can find it by looking over the Internet) which is sold in drug stores here which will help with the relief. A kind of wipes I believe. The old wives tale here (which more or less is true) is don't go in the water between Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day as that's when they are most prevalent. I always call our local beach line here in the a.m. to find out what the 9:00 a.m. "sea pest" report is. They send the life guards out in the mornings to test the water and they report back. AND you thought they just saved lives! If they get stung, it's going to be a bad start to the day.

 

Also, as a note, florida gets man o war (which I understand in Australia are called blue bottles, because that's what they look like). At various times during the year you will see them in the water and washed ashore. I've seen many a tourist go over to the washed up ones and start to handle them. DON'T!! They may still be alive and can sting and it will hurt. That also goes for the clear washed ashore jellyfish.

 

Now that you've been educated, enjoy the beach and get in that water! Oh, forgot to mention to look for the shark fins too! Can be scary at times when you think about it all, but that doesn't stop me. Just be careful and aware!

 

 

Lbob, I was wondering about this....with the water in the Caribbean being so clear, do you see something sort of like a cloudy area in the water if there are alot of those little lice things all together?

 

Karen

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lauderdalebob

lauderdalebob

Posted
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I don't think you can see sea lice, whether the water is clear or not. I don't think you usually will get sea lice when the water is crystal clear. It seems here where I am in Ft. Lauderdale at least they usually are prevalent when the seaweed is heavy and coming in to shore. Can anybody shed anything more authoritative than this? I'm certainly no expert. I'm just going by being a local here in So. Fla.

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