Sea Safe and Thimble Jellies

[opalobsidian]

YOW!

Let me get this straight...

right now, in the ocean around Coz, there are bejillions of baby jelly fish which will ATTACH themselves to you?

They not only sting you but make you sick???

Good Lord!!! I had no idea!!!

Looking slightly less forward to next week
Pamela

 

[DocVikingo]

I agree that SeaSafe is an excellent idea and it should be useful addition to a more comprehensive plan of protection.

Regarding your remark, "One of my teaching sites is like a haven for stinging things when the sun goes down." Is there any chance that your bites are coming from insects on land such as sand fleas rather than, or in addition to, water-dwelling critters such as thimble jelly larvae? If so, you also may wish to read this article:

Avoiding Sand Fleas (aka no see ums), Mosquitoes and Other Bothersome and Disease Carrying Insects
http://www.awoosh.com/Doc Vikingo's Resource Page/Avoiding Insect Bites.htm

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Christi]

YOW!

Let me get this straight...

right now, in the ocean around Coz, there are bejillions of baby jelly fish which will ATTACH themselves to you?

They not only sting you but make you sick???

Good Lord!!! I had no idea!!!

Looking slightly less forward to next week
Pamela

Pam,

NOT to panic...it isn't near as bad as you make it sound. Some people are simply more sensitive to them, others don't even notice them. They are not bad and I haven't had any divers complaining of them this week. Very few people actually get ill from them...they are more of an annoyance than anything, but full exposure protection is definitely recommended just as a precautionary measure and I haven't had anyone get physically ill or have any severe reactions in the past four years. We do try to avoid the areas where they are heavy as well.

 

[Carolina Diver]

I am sensitive to anything that wants to attach itself to me....well maybe not anything.

 

[DocVikingo]

No doubt Page Crow will have a chiropractic or naturopathic solution to the entire problem of such envenomations ; )

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[opalobsidian]

I'll bring some needles and accupuncture the lil @#$#$%s if they even think about getting attached to me!!!

WHY would they attach themselves to a diver? Do they do it on purpose or does it just happen because they're sticky?

Pamela

 

[Carolina Diver]

Pam,

NOT to panic...it isn't near as bad as you make it sound. Some people are simply more sensitive to them, others don't even notice them. They are not bad and I haven't had any divers complaining of them this week. Very few people actually get ill from them...they are more of an annoyance than anything, but full exposure protection is definitely recommended just as a precautionary measure and I haven't had anyone get physically ill or have any severe reactions in the past four years. We do try to avoid the areas where they are heavy as well.

Chisty - you say full exposure protection. Are gloves allowed in Coz? That would sound like a winner.

 

[archman]

Regarding your remark, "One of my teaching sites is like a haven for stinging things when the sun goes down." Is there any chance that your bites are coming from insects on land such as sand fleas rather than, or in addition to, water-dwelling critters such as thimble jelly larvae? If so, you also may wish to read this article:

Nah Doc, they're zooplankton-derived stings. The symptoms and signs are same/similar for sea lice. We don't have any insect problems offshore. I just don't think it's thimble jelly larva, but some vertically migrating critters coming off our isolated reef patch every evening. I can't figure out what the dang things are... I dragged a plankton net through it once and didn't get squat.

 

[DandyDon]

Chisty - you say full exposure protection. Are gloves allowed in Coz? That would sound like a winner.

I don't think so. You see them on some divers, but they're not supposed to.

If the 3 mil long is too warm, cut back to a long dive skin. I wear one under any wet suit as it's worth $50 to make it go on easily every time, but wore it alone last week in Coz. I did see some nasty welts Friday eveing on one ladies knees who previously wore a shorty there.

What your long suit won't cover - ankles, hands, etc, perhaps Vaseline...?

 

[DocVikingo]

I still suspect that the larval form of the thimble jellyfish (Linuche unguiculata) likely were responsbile for the eruptions Cheryl noted while diving in Utila. But, as you suggest, SBE also can result from run ins with various other creatures. Other cnidarian larvae, such as those from certain sea anemones and fire corals, might exist at her teaching sites and be implicated. In any event, the prevention and treatment measures remain the same.

As regards my insect inquiry, I didn't mean offshore--I meant land-based. At the very least you've got to spend some time at the shore/dock when doing scuba and I also thought perhaps some of her teaching may have taken place on/near the shore.

Regards,

DocVikingo