jellies off siesta key
 

hey all

you guys getting any jelly fish up in TPA?

i've been out riding 4 days straight (gulf) and have seen hundreds of 4" diameter x 8-10" long jellies caught in teh current and drifting

does this variety sting?

OS/Sarasota

Maybe, maybe not.
If it's what I saw the other day up in the CLW area, I would be weary.
I saw a large stinging variety.

I have been riding and looking around a lot lately (I personally love seeing stuff while I ride).
I have seen some really cool stuff lately.
I saw a King mackerel skyrocket about 50 yards off the beach. He was at least a 20 pounder. I then saw the same or similar sized mackey "body surfing" a large wave. I have to assume he was doing it to conserve energy while sneaking up on bait. That was the first time I have ever seen that, btw, with a kingfish.

I saw a turtle in CLW pass two days ago. A bunch of dolphins.. etc.

Anyway, I spotted this rather large brown thing and went closer to inspect (basically ran it over, almost). Well, it was the BIGGEST friggin' jellyfish I have seen in a long time. The body was clear, but it's stingers were brown. It had a ton of stingers. Not one of those moderately harmless moon jellies either (moon's sting, but not bad, imo). This baby had tons of brown tentacles with stingers. It was going to mame whoever came into contact with it, basically.
I am pretty sure it was a sea nettle.

http://www.beachhunter.net/thingstoknow/jellyfish/

If you are seeing the same, I would stay away from them. They hurt real bad.
The one I saw was very large. It was obviously heavily laden with stingers.
I don't know about the ones you saw. But better safe than sorry.
I guess if they are all over the place it's hard to always avoid them.
Maybe purposefully put a finger (not whole hand) on one and see what happens (?).

I know a large stinging one, if it contacts a large area, can be a real bad deal and send many to the hospital.
Some jellies are harmless though.

Hey.. there is a forum for everything, pushing some sort of associated product

http://www.beachhunter.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4

If it had very long tentacles, and sort of a semi-floating "air sac", you are most likely seeing Portuguese Man of Wars drifting in. Oddly enough, these aren't true "jellyfish"...they are actually a colony of organisms that are moved by the wind. (kinda like us!)

Portuguese Man of wars can have a few VERY VERY long tentacles (i'm talking a few hundred yards!) so you're going to need to keep distance from these. Their sting can actually kill. If a person/animal swims thru one for example, they cling to the skin and usually end up putting people into Anaphylactic Shock. Very scary.

Pain will not be relieved with your typical vinegar solutions, etc. The best thing you can do if on/near a boat is to gather the hot water being spit out of the engine and pour that on the sting site. Then go to the closest hospital asap. If you run into these washed up on shore, they can still sting, so be careful! Depending on wind direction, these commonly blow into beach areas and then drift away after a few days. USE CAUTION!!!

They aren't named the Portuguese Man-Of-Peace, right!!?? ;)
I can tell you from experience (I let every thing sting me on the hand once... too much curiosity not too) that they hurt like hell.
Nothing in my experience matches the pain of this 'lil 'ff'er though.
He looks harmless, but don't let him fool ya'.

hey scott
 

thanks for the info - but I think I will pass on the "just touch it with one finger thing"

lol

anyway - as of yesterday we were still seeing them down here - must be migrating

also - a regular swimmer at siesta key beach (old business partner of Island Style/Laurel's husband from the windsurfing days) was swimming 2 days ago off siesta key and was swimming around a guy fishing (from shore) and the fisherman hooks a ladyfish - the swimmer (sorry can't remember his name) said what he saw next was a first - a 4'-5' long shark whizzed by him and hit the ladyfish)

he said he got right out of the water to talk to the fisherman - all that was left on the line was the head

yikes

OS

And they can jump like 3ft out of the water like a crocodile. I saw one eat a dog once. Watch it buddy.

Growing up surfing on the east coast i've been stung by our little blue friends hundreds of times..ya now duckdive under a wave and when u come up one is wrapped around your chest!!! Awesome!! I personally never felt like going to the hospital.. and i have had the tenticals wrapped around me... Sometimes you have to peel them of your skin because they stick to you... But it does hurt like hell..no joke :p

I got stung by a jelly in Aruba while snorkeling. Really freaky-I started shivering and the pain was intense all night . Fire coral from same trip left scar on my ankle. Got nailed by a sea nettle in hatteras this summer that felt like getting whipped by fire and itched like a mofo for 3 days. I dont have a good relationship with stinging cnidarians.

Stinging cnidarians, nice. :D
That could be a movie title.
That fire coral can definitely hurt as well.