Vicious jellyfish keep swimmers from water

By JOSIE CLARKE

Hundreds of swimmers were warned to stay out of the surf yesterday after thousands of stinging bluebottles washed up on northern beaches.

Two people needed urgent hospital treatment after suffering an allergic reaction to stings while swimming at Long Bay and Motuihe Island.

The bright blue jellyfish, also known as Portuguese man-of-war, littered the sea and sand and left many swimmers nursing painful welts.

Bluebottles are not uncommon, but constant northerly winds have washed unusually large numbers on to beaches on both coasts of the upper North Island.

Auckland Regional Council ranger Andy Spence spent most of yesterday warning beachgoers who flocked to Long Bay to take care after treating three swimmers, including one young girl who had a 15cm welt on her leg.

A man was taken to hospital with respiratory problems after an allergic reaction to a sting.

Mr Spence said the bluebottles were the largest he had seen, with stinging tentacles over 1m long.

Andrew Christie, aquarium curator at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, said bluebottles were common in warm ocean currents.

The bluebottle's sac, which was full of gas and floated on the water, acted as a sail. The jellyfish caught prey with tentacles up to several metres long, which were drawn up and let down like a piece of elastic. The dead catch, anything from small plankton to fish, was then drawn up to the stomach and digested.

Bluebottles were usually dead by the time they were blown on to shore, but could still inflict a painful sting, Mr Christie said.

Angela Jackson found herself swimming among the bluebottles, which she said were easily visible floating on top of the water, when she visited Long Bay yesterday.

She escaped a sting and stayed in the shallows with her 18-month-old daughter, Jessica.

Judy Field, who lives at Long Bay, decided against going for a swim with her daughter Katie, aged 7, after they were warned about the bluebottles. She said her friend had had breathing problems after being stung by a bluebottle, which had dotted the beach for days.

Order of St John operations manager Glenn Rose said a small number of people suffered an allergic reaction to bluebottle stings. Anybody who had difficulty breathing, felt dizzy or faint, or if the sting and swelling spread rapidly, needed to seek urgent help.

Standard jellyfish stings were best doused with vinegar or salty water.

Herald Online Marine News