What the hell was that?

[Lady Pirate]

So I am up at Hobe Beach a few days ago and metal detecting on the wet sand, but close to the water. All of the sudden I feel this sharp pain in my left foot just below my toes. I just knew that I stepped on a huge hook or a knife. I expected to see blood pouring out on me when I looked down ......but nothing. I felt my foot for a hook, knife or whatever got me, and still nothing? Nothing in the sand, but the small clump of seaweed that I stepped on. Saw nothing in it either? But heck, my foot still had the feeling of being stabbed by something!!!! But the time I made it back to my truck, I was limping. And still an excruciating pain was under my toes and pad to my foot. I got my mirror out to look, no bee sting there I had to go home. So I looked it up on the computer and from what I figure, there probably a jellyfish tentacle in the seaweed I stepped on. No swelling, it just turned red. It was so bad that I took an Oxycontin for pain and that didn't take the pain away. I took another at bedtime and had to wrap my bottom of foot and toes in ice. It eased off around three in the morning. Then I fell asleep and when I got up a few hours later, it was like nothing ever happened. Just the top of my foot a reddish color. Boy, I have been stung in the past on my arms, legs and body.... but this was over the top. Could have been a box jellyfish or a man-o-war tentacle. Note to self:I will make sure I don't step on seaweed again, that's for sure. I never want to feel that type of pain again! Over seventeen hours of it. At least I did manage to find a gold earring with a small diamond on the side of it and a coin spill before that happened.

 

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[Sir Gala Clad]

We have the man of war a plenty here and box jelly fish. It was one or the other. The news did a broadcast of the box jellyfish. Instant pain bad, like I said, I thought I stepped on a big hook or knife. All better the next day, I never looked under my foot to see if any signs, it was reddish on top of my foot.

I have posted the below items which may be of interest to you and readers.
• By: Associated Press
DELAND, Fla. - Box jellyfish floating in waters off Florida's Atlantic coast have been stinging people.
By Tuesday dozens of people had been stung in waters off New Smyrna Beach, Ponce Inlet and Daytona Beach.
Officials say the sting feels like being shocked. The species spotted in Volusia County leave a painful burn mark.
Purple warning flags have been posted to alert the public.

Box jellyfish are transparent marine invertebrates that propel themselves along the water using a flap that quickly expels water underneath the box-shaped bell.

Probably the most dangerous jellyfish in Florida is the Portuguese Man of War [Physalia]. It is unmistakable, even if you’ve never seen a jellyfish before. It has a clear inflatable float that stays on top of the water like a little balloon. The rest of the animal is purple, and the purple tentacles can dangle underneath and behind the jellyfish for 50 to 200 feet, depending on the size of the jellyfish.

At left is a photo of a man-o-war sent to BeachHunter by Priscilla from Puerto Rico. The photo was taken on Playa Ballena, Guánica, Puerto Rico. Priscilla and her friend saw the jellyfish in the water and went near it to have a closer look. The beast stung her friend on the foot, and when Priscilla tried to help, she got stung on the hand and foot. The next day she had what she described as "stains" on various parts of her body, even where she felt no pain. She ended up going to the hospital with chest pains and abnormal blood pressure. Fortunately she got better and is O.K.
Thank you Priscilla, for sharing your story and the photo with everyone. I'm sure you won't be going near jellyfish again soon.


Oh by the way, did you find anything detecting near the sea weed? I have read, that this is not a good place to hunt as the targets are most likely light.

 

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[zigzag]

Vodka sounds good but oxycontin sounds better.

 

[firemac]

I agree with Dew, my saying from when I was a kid was, everything will either bite you, eat you, or sting you as soon as you leave dry sand, get well soon

 

[s.c.shooter]

I can sympathize. I got hit by a jellyfish at Hunting Island a few years ago. It felt like I had grabbed a live electrical wire!

 

[sponge]

I have been stung pretty much by all of these. Man o war,boxjellies,sealice. Oh the sealice many sleepless nights. Wife would think they could get her. Lots of calmine lotion and beer.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

We have the man of war a plenty here and box jelly fish. It was one or the other. The news did a broadcast of the box jellyfish. Instant pain bad, like I said, I thought I stepped on a big hook or knife. All better the next day, I never looked under my foot to see if any signs, it was reddish on top of my foot.

Lady Pirate: I am providing this additional information to stress the importance of proper and timely first aid treatment of a man of war sting to you and all T net members.
My daughter who was holding my grandchild was stung this morning by a fully potent live man or war in the water. She was able to make positive identification as she saw the dark blue to purple float in the water after experiencing an intense searing pain in her leg. She described it like being stabbed or hit by a whip.
By the time she, came to me for help It was almost too late to treat her. She had a limp as the stung leg felt numb, was dizzy, and a dull pain had spread to her stomach/ kidnies which she described like giving child birth.
For proper treatment, it is important to know / realize that the venom of a man of war is protein based. The next thing that you need to know is that green papaya contains a digestive enzyme which is used to tenderarize meat (protein). The third and most important thing that you need to know is that time is of the essence in providing first aid...

If you can get hold a green papaya, you can quickly and easily neutralize the venom by dabbing the sap from a green papaya on the sting which painlessly digests the venom in approximately fifteen minutes. You also need to know that immediate medical treatment under the supervision of a doctor may be required if there is an allergic reaction. I alerted an older daughter that this might be the case as the symptoms were severe.

You should not take any medication or drink anything to block the pain as it is your friend since it lets you know if what you are doing helps (decrease in pain) or wrong (increase in pain), you should also sit upright so that the blood flows toward your feet, remain calm to slow the spreading of the venom and remain awake until stable.
Concerned about the severe symptoms, I asked several questions and found that she lost precious time in neutralizing the venom and made the situation worse by:
!) Urinating in a cup and pouring it over sting – Wrong.
2) Pouring Vinegar over the sting – even worse.
3) Flushing the sting with fresh water – Wrong
If necessary, you should use salt water.
The one thing that she did right was to go further down the beach so that she would not be stung again and removed the tentacle by swishing her leg in the salt water.
It is crucial, that you never rub your eyes with your fingers to avoid spreading the venom there.
All ended well as my daughter was stable in about thirty minutes and puttering around the garden in less than four hours.

Almost forgot: You extract the sap from a green papaya like you extract sap from a rubber tree the first cut is at the top of the papaya with your finger nail Take sap from below the cut with your finger and dab it starting at one end of the red welt line continuing dabbing with additional sap till you get to the other end. You will need to cut a new line approx ¼ inch below f the cut seals up or you run out of sap and need to cut another line. .


If you get a green papaya, you may be able to neutralize the sting with a paste made from meat tenderizer which contains the papaya enzyme. I tried pouring dry meat tenderizer on one time, when I could not get a green papaya and it was a disaster as the salt in the tenderizer was irritating and spread the venom around.

 

[sponge]

I once had a man o war go between my chest and board after duckdiving a wave. I had lines of pain stretched across my upper body. The waves were good and the wars were everywhere. Dude it was painful.

 

[bzbadger]

Well no matter what kind of jellyfish it is they all use the same device to sting you..the tentacle has thousand upon thousands of nematocysts which are nothing more than triggered hypodermic needles...some larger in size or abundance than others. Just the slightest touch fires these things off and instantly injecting venom not poison. These nematocysts can break off in clusters and can be moved around if pushed and caused to fire any remaining unused ones so its not like you're spreading the venom. Fluid is what's best to use first to wash off any remaining and anything that breaks down protein will cause the venom to break down..acids etc as I stated before urine does work its recommended by EMTs, doctors etc so is vinegar doubtful of the vodka. I know I've seen tv shows about the box jellyfish and they had a guy pee on a girls stomach and it eased the pain down. I don't know if a man o war is different per it's venom.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

Ha just this past Monday in Jersey I was in waste deep water for 20 minutes. Ten minutes in I started itching like a flea bag dog. Knew that this was jellyfish discharging in the water. You never see any jellyfish but any body parts exposed to the water itches like hell. Quick shower relieves the problem. Then I switched towns and went to another beach. Here the brown/bar sharks were in the surf. Just another day!

Had that happen to me too but shower didn't help the itching much

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

Well no matter what kind of jellyfish it is they all use the same device to sting you..the tentacle has thousand upon thousands of nematocysts which are nothing more than triggered hypodermic needles...some larger in size or abundance than others. Just the slightest touch fires these things off and instantly injecting venom not poison. These nematocysts can break off in clusters and can be moved around if pushed and caused to fire any remaining unused ones so its not like you're spreading the venom. Fluid is what's best to use first to wash off any remaining and anything that breaks down protein will cause the venom to break down..acids etc as I stated before urine does work its recommended by EMTs, doctors etc so is vinegar doubtful of the vodka. I know I've seen tv shows about the box jellyfish and they had a guy pee on a girls stomach and it eased the pain down. I don't know if a man o war is different per it's venom.


Mahalo (thank you) for clarifying that the sting is venom not a poison. Peeing on the stung area may be beneficial as long as the PH is close to salt water and it is warm. There was no noticeable improvement in my daughter’s case who first urinated in a cup before flushing.

According to Wikiipedia:
The best treatment for a Portuguese man o' war sting is:
• To avoid any further contact with the Portuguese man o' war and to carefully remove any remnants of the organism from the skin (taking care not to touch them directly with fingers or any other part of the skin to avoid secondary stinging); then
• To apply salt water to the affected area (not fresh water, which tends to make the affected area worse)
• To follow up with the application of hot water (45 °C/113 °F) to the affected area from anywhere between 15-20 minutes which eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.
• If eyes have been affected, to irrigate with copious amounts of room-temperature tap water for at least 15 minutes, and if vision blurs or the eyes continue to tear, hurt, swell, or show light sensitivity after irrigating, or there is any concern, to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Vinegar is not recommended for treating stings. Vinegar dousing increases toxin delivery and worsens symptoms of stings from the nematocysts of this species. Vinegar has also been confirmed to provoke hemorrhaging when used on the less severe stings of nematocysts of smaller species.


The Portuguese man o' war is often confused with jellyfish by its victims, which may lead to improper treatment of stings, as the venom differs from that of true jellyfish. Despite its outward appearance, the man o' war is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, which differs from jellyfish in that it is not actually a single organism, but a colonial organism made up of many minute individuals called zooids.[1] Each of these zooids is highly specialized, and, although structurally similar to other solitary animals, they are attached to one another and physiologically integrated to the extent that they are incapable of independent survival.
The Portuguese man o' war is composed of four types of polyp.[4] One of the polyps, a gas-filled bladder called the pneumatophore (commonly known as the sail), enables the organism to float.

The other three polyp types are known as dactylozooid (defence), gonozooid (reproduction), and gastrozooid (feeding).
The dactylzooids make up the tentacles that are typically 10 metres (33 ft) in length but can be up to 50 metres 160 ft). The long tentacles "fish" continuously through the water, and each tentacle bears stinging, venom-filled nematocysts (coiled, thread-like structures), which sting and kill small sea organisms such as small fish and shrimp
The stinging, venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles of the Portuguese man o' war can paralyze small fish and other prey. Detached tentacles and dead specimens (including those that wash up on shore) can sting just as painfully as the live organism in the water and may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the organism or the detachment of the tentacle.

Stings usually cause severe pain to humans, leaving whip-like, red welts on the skin that normally last 2 or 3 days after the initial sting, though the pain should subside after about an hour. However, the venom can travel to the lymph nodes and may cause, depending on the amount of venom, a more intense pain.[citation needed] A sting may lead to an allergic reaction. There can also be serious effects, including fever, shock, and interference with heart and lung function. Stings may also cause death, although this is extremely rare. Medical attention may be necessary, especially if pain persists or is intense, there is an extreme reaction, the rash worsens, a feeling of overall illness develops, a red streak develops between swollen lymph nodes and the sting, or either area becomes red, warm and tender.

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

I wish I had a cornfield to detect myself with some nearby woods and a creek too possibly, lol.

Not tryin' to change the subject, but odd you should mention those very things, because in '85, (when my wife and I were still young and dumb, maybe), we bought an old abandoned brick farm house (for a pittance), with almost no roof and no windows, found out it was built by the county as a school in 1861, sold off to a farmer and became a residence in 1900. Had a few acres with it we could rent to the adjacent farmer, and had some woods and two small creeks nearby, so I figured I might find enough with the detector to help pay for the renovations, right?....PIFFLE!, almost 30 years later I have found nothing, not one old coin, not one relic, no native American objects, no cache not even a square freaking nail...Old schoolhouse, farmhouse, cornfield, creeks...29 years of hunting, myself and with friends...nothing! Very frustrating! ...Grass is always greener elsewere! I want a beach...Damn the jellyfish, full speed ahead!

 

[diggummup]

Not tryin' to change the subject, but odd you should mention those very things, because in '85, (when my wife and I were still young and dumb, maybe), we bought an old abandoned brick farm house (for a pittance), with almost no roof and no windows, found out it was built by the county as a school in 1861, sold off to a farmer and became a residence in 1900. Had a few acres with it we could rent to the adjacent farmer, and had some woods and two small creeks nearby, so I figured I might find enough with the detector to help pay for the renovations, right?....PIFFLE!, almost 30 years later I have found nothing, not one old coin, not one relic, no native American objects, no cache not even a square freaking nail...Old schoolhouse, farmhouse, cornfield, creeks...29 years of hunting, myself and with friends...nothing! Very frustrating! ...Grass is always greener elsewere! I want a beach...Damn the jellyfish, full speed ahead!

​lol!!!

 

[bzbadger]

Beach is nothing more than a large kitty litter box and all the tourists who come and throw their trash everywhere are the terds in the litter. They wouldn't trash their own backyards bit haven't an issue throwing it around my neck of the woods. I guess I was raised different and I've taken the time to do the same for my kids. It sickens me to even walk my local beach..from chicken bones, cans, flip flops, juice boxes, diapers and even condoms. It takes the fun out of detecting when you see the nastiness of what you walk through.

Get your facts first, then distort them as you please-Mark Twain

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

Beach is nothing more than a large kitty litter box and all the tourists who come and throw their trash everywhere are the terds in the litter. They wouldn't trash their own backyards bit haven't an issue throwing it around my neck of the woods. I guess I was raised different and I've taken the time to do the same for my kids. It sickens me to even walk my local beach..from chicken bones, cans, flip flops, juice boxes, diapers and even condoms. It takes the fun out of detecting when you see the nastiness of what you walk through.

I agree with that, but it's the same everywhere. My wife and I were hiking at Falls Creek State Park in Tennessee a while back, when we got to the big falls a younger couple with a baby were there sitting by the falls. No other hikers around so my wife and I hung back to let the couple enjoy the falls by themselves for maybe half an hour. Then, right before they left they decided the baby needed changing. They proceeded to change the baby on a rock then casually tossed the dirty pamper into the pool of water beneath the falls!!! We were just dumfounded...I had brought my camera equipment along and had to fish the runny pamper out with a long stick and bury it in the brush...still can't believe I saw that.

 

[lookindown]

Urine does not work on jellyfish stings...look it up.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Urine does not work on jellyfish stings...look it up.

No vinegar works much better, urine is not that acidic... Rinsing with hot water works too but hard to get at beach while a bottle of vinegar is easy to carry.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[cntrydncr1]

I really have to start wearing my dive boots. sorry for your pain!!

 

[diggummup]

I agree with that, but it's the same everywhere. My wife and I were hiking at Falls Creek State Park in Tennessee a while back, when we got to the big falls a younger couple with a baby were there sitting by the falls. No other hikers around so my wife and I hung back to let the couple enjoy the falls by themselves for maybe half an hour. Then, right before they left they decided the baby needed changing. They proceeded to change the baby on a rock then casually tossed the dirty pamper into the pool of water beneath the falls!!! We were just dumfounded...I had brought my camera equipment along and had to fish the runny pamper out with a long stick and bury it in the brush...still can't believe I saw that.

You would have heard me for about a miles worth of echoes if I saw some pig do that. I will stick to my statement in other threads of this manner... people are pigs.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

You would have heard me for about a miles worth of echoes if I saw some pig do that. I will stick to my statement in other threads of this manner... people are pigs.

Obviously, you have never raised hogs, or had a pet pot belly.
If you did, you would not say such repulsive things about pigs, who are surprisingly clean animals - related to bears.