Bluebottle Portuguese man o’ war on the beach — Courtesy: Shutterstock — KarenHBlack
Next time you take a trip to Florida’s coast, watch your step! Toxic Portuguese man o’ wars are showing up on beaches all over the Sunshine State.
As spring breakers flocked to South Florida and South Carolina beaches recently, so did the dangerous man o’ war. Purple flags popped up all over the Treasure Coast, South Florida, and Carolina beaches.
These species of siphonophore, closely related to jellyfish, are typically blue, violet, or pink, and are extremely toxic. Experts say their tentacles can reach up to 100-feet in length and their cells can still fire off barbs loaded with toxins even if they’re dead.
“These animals are some of the most toxic animals in the world,” said Tony McEwan, Curator and Marine Biologist at the University of Hawaii’s Waikiki Aquarium. “They’re not very maneuverable animals, so their prey has to be immobilized very quickly.”
“Man o’ war,’ you just don’t mess with them. Just like anything else in the ocean,” Terry Bartley of New Smyrna Beach said after some were found on the beach there in February.
“I got stung by one not too long ago. It had a tentacle line across my arm. I didn’t have to go to the hospital or anything. It’s aggravating,” Kevin O’Donnell of New Smyrna Beach said.
Got stung? Here’s what to do.
According to the school of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii, the most effective thing to do if stung by a toxic man o’ war is to remove any tentacles by scraping the skin with a credit card, rinse the sting with vinegar and put hot water or a hot pack on for approximately 45 minutes. Using an antihistamine for itching is also helpful.
“The man o’ war can be very painful if you get stung by them, so we do encourage people, if you get stung by a man o’ war to exit the water and flag down a lifeguard,” Tamra Malphurs of Volusia Beach Patrol said.
The good news is that although they give an extremely painful sting, they are rarely deadly to humans. However, the best thing to do is avoid them.
“The Portuguese man o’ war is not going to kill you but, it’s going to be painful, and it’s going to be uncomfortable and very itchy for a while,” said McEwan then added the toxin could be fatal to someone with an allergy. “Then it slowly, slowly dissipates.”
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