The long-awaited vacation at sea can sometimes turn into an unpleasant memory, the fault of which is a meeting with a jellyfish.
A marine creature, consisting of 98% of a liquid, is difficult to see in water, so contact with it often occurs through negligence and can have rather dire consequences for humans. Which jellyfish are poisonous?
Caution: Sea Wasp!
Especially dangerous meeting with the inhabitant of the Indian Ocean - the jellyfish Chironex fleckeri (or sea wasp). The small animal lives in the waters of the northern shores of Australia and the western coast of Thailand; inhabits the quiet coves of sandy beaches and is most active in the summer months. Every year, the most poisonous jellyfish - the sea wasp - kills about 20 people.
The body of the jellyfish is almost transparent, with a slight bluish tint, due to which an unprepossessing creature is difficult to see in water. The diameter of the dome is 30-40 cm, thin tentacles are covered with stinging cells with highly toxic poison and are located in 4 bunches of 15 pieces. In a calm state, their length is 10-20 cm, when the sea wasp goes hunting it increases to 3 meters. The first poisonous jellyfish does not attack its victim; frozen in one place, she waits for prey to pass by and mercilessly stings her several times.
The consequences of meeting with a sea wasp
The burn of an inhabitant of the water bowels, in addition to respiratory paralysis and instantly swelling, strongly baking lesions, paralyzes the work of the cardiac and nervous systems. Under the influence of a pain shock or a heart attack, the victim may simply not swim to the shore. In the best case, a person will experience pain for several days, and slowly healing ulcers will remain at the burn site, subsequently turning into scars. It is believed that the patient can be temporarily relieved by vinegar, which requires lubrication of the injured area. First, it is necessary with great care to get rid of the remnants of tentacles, bearing in mind their dangers and the property to recover when it enters a humid environment. Then, cardiopulmonary and respiratory resuscitation should be applied to the victim. With the untimely introduction of an antidote - a specific therapeutic serum - death can occur within 5 minutes.
Irukanji - Pacific Risk
A variety of poisonous jellyfish live in the Pacific Ocean, among which a huge danger to humans is the jellyfish Irukanji. Outwardly, it resembles a small (about 15-25 mm in diameter) transparent-white bell; thin tentacles are covered with stinging cells that shoot a victim not with a full portion of the poison, but with its dosed amount. That is why a light bite poisons the victim’s body gradually and is not taken seriously by bathers.
The main symptoms of a burn occur within 30-60 minutes from the moment of the lesion and are accompanied by a chain of paralytic effects: profuse sweating, nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, pulmonary edema, as well as severe pain in the head, abdomen, pelvis, and back. In some cases, death is likely. As an urgent measure, treatment of the affected area with vinegar is required. Unfortunately, rescue serum against such a Pacific jellyfish has not been invented; stung passes a set of measures to support life until the poison completely comes out in a natural way.
About floating colonies of physalis
Poisonous jellyfish, photos of which demonstrate the deceptive beauty of these sea creatures, live in tropical waters near the shores of Spain, Italy, Thailand, Hawaii.
Residents and guests of these places should beware of physalis - floating colonies of marine organisms, very similar to jellyfish and called "Portuguese boats." The colony consists of several polyps, one of which is a gas bubble similar to a balloon.
Rising above the water, it allows the colony to easily stay afloat. The remaining parts are tentacles of a 20-meter length with poisonous stinging cells at the ends. Their functions include obtaining food and dragging the victim to the center of the colony, where the latter is “processed” by other polyps. If it enters the human skin, the poisonous substance causes severe pain, fever, blisters, excessive sweating, damage to the nervous and circulatory systems, and general malaise.
Stung jellyfish: what to do?
Be sure to contact the marine body with the remnants of the tentacles and moisten the affected area with plenty of sea water. Fresh water cannot be used: this action releases the remaining poison from the surviving stinging cells. According to some experts, vinegar in this case may be useless in contact with other jellyfish. Meetings with the “Portuguese boat” are much easier to avoid than with a sea wasp due to the bright color of its dome. In addition, marine organisms hold in large groups (more than a thousand individuals) and rarely approach the coast.
Poisonous jellyfish of the world: a cross
A huge danger for humans is a tiny jellyfish-cross, the hallmark of which is a brown-red cross inside a transparent yellowish-green dome, the diameter of which varies from 2.5 to 4.0 cm. Tentacles, thickened at the ends due to the accumulation of stinging cells, are about 60 pieces; they can vary in size and reach half a meter when extended.
A poisonous jellyfish-cross in the deep sea inhabits mainly off the coast of Korea, Japan, China, California. During the spawning season, it enters massively in shallow water, where it poses a huge danger to bathers. For the presence on the tentacles of the special suction cups of the cross, they called it a “catching jellyfish”; it is worth touching at least one tentacle, and the jellyfish rushes towards the victim and tries to cling to it completely. The result of human contact with the inhabitant of the deep sea is a painful burn on the body, redness of the skin at the site of the lesion and the appearance of blisters. These signs are accompanied by pain in the lumbar region, shortness of breath, numbness of the extremities, nausea and severe thirst. The action of the poisonous substance lasts for 3-4 days.
Poisonous jellyfish
Not poisonous, but very dangerous is the giant cyanide poison - the largest jellyfish in the world: its dome diameter reaches 2.5 meters and the tentacles are 37 meters long. The hairy cyanide (as the sea creature is also called) prefers cold and moderately cold waters, found in the northern seas of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic, off the coast of Australia, in the open waters of the Arctic seas.
In warm water does not take root. The color of cyanide depends on its size: large individuals are characterized by brown, red and purple shades; small specimens - tan and orange. Numerous tentacles of the animal, also called the “lion's mane” for their similarity to the appearance of a lion, contain
stinging cells with strong poison. Its action can cause the appearance of a painful rash and burning sensation, accompanied by allergic manifestations.
Tourist Memo
If you are going on vacation to places where a meeting with a jellyfish has a high degree of probability, it is recommended to follow the tips below:
- to avoid meeting with a jellyfish, remembering that its tentacles can be extended over considerable distances;
- during diving it is better not to touch anything with your hands;
- do not enter the water after a storm to avoid contact with fragments of tentacles.
If the poisonous jellyfish still got in the way, it is recommended:
- rinse the wound with salt water immediately;
- treat the affected area with vinegar, alcohol or ammonia;
- gently remove the remnants of the tentacles - this can be done with a mixture of sand and sea water, which must be applied to the site of the lesion, and then carefully scraped off with an improvised item (the back of the knife, a plastic card, etc., this action is not recommended to be performed with bare hands).
Be sure to seek professional medical help, especially if dizziness, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, shortness of breath are observed.