Last Sunday during what turned out to be a 5 hour swim at Brighton Beach, I got hit worse than ever before. The ugly brown/red species of jellyfish that frequent this stretch of the atlantic were out in force; early morning was severe. I have had many encounters with these guys in the past, but a big'un wrapped around my neck/shoulder/armpit and stayed there for a couple of seconds. The rash marks are still visible 4 days later. Several friends were also hit and are finding relief only after some prescription strength drugs.
We started swimming early... 6 AM and by 8AM, we could still see the j-fish, but they were deeper. I was told they avoid the sun.... seems odd.
Still, its not nearly as bad as poison ivy, and in my case no longer uncomfortable.
Any jelly action elsewhere?
nothing in the water at the lake I swim, but from above I see these little guys flying around me, diving down next to me. I've had to roll over twice to try to splash them away. no real effect. they just over a little higher.
upload.wikimedia.org/.../Larus_ridibundus.jpg
hit some fresh water jf a few years back , haven't seen any since.
They were the size of little bubbles and felt like needles poking my chest.
Really weird.
Oh yeah, here in L.I. Sound the JF are active. Some years they show up in May/June, and this is one of them. Generally I see them floating about 2-3 feet down (the ones that show up in late-summer usually float on top) but I did catch one right in the face last week. The sting hurt for well over an hour, which is a bit long for me. Usually the pain is gone by the time I get out of the water. Maybe this year we have a strain of super-jellyfish?
thats awful chaos! Over the summer in Massachusetts we actually somehow had jelly fish at the fresh water Walden Pond. They were tiny and harmless. Weird thing though.
I heard spraying vinegar or some sort of acetic acid solution can help? Not sure. Just something I saw on Ocean Rescue. Hope you're feeling better.
I've used it. I am seriously allergic after a Man-of-War bite a few years ago, and had consistent "sea lice" reactions. I use safe sea every time I swim in the Caribbean and it works, at least for the first hour. After that, no so much.
Expensive, but worth it.
I got hit by five box jellyfish while diving off Roatan, Honduras a few weeks ago... Great fun! They weren't too bad, but made me wish I had worn a full body suit! :)
