Sea Nettles OUCH!

Dove Breakwater on Sunday. First dive went to the barge. Dropped about 50 feet. It was dark almost like a night dive. Visibility was about 5 feet. My dive buddy and I followed the line out. There were pockets of sea nettles and we were dodging most of the way out.

We got there about 65 feet and it totally felt like a night dive. We observed the local rockfish residence and then headed back directly for the beach. Then we hit even more sea nettles. We were ducking and weaving those damn creatures. When it is dark and poor visibility it is hard to miss them all. I felt a huge amount of pain on my chin and neck. I took out my regulator and there was a sea nettle wrapped around it and I had to shake it to get the entwined nettle off my regulator. I kept my cool but damn that hurt and it continued to hurt.

Now I was in a good amount of continuous pain. I thought of surfacing but that would not have helped so I just kept going. I pulled the chin of my hood down because there must have been nettles in it because it just kept stinging.

Got back to shore and the pain continued. I reached my vehicle and put copious amounts of vinegar on my face and neck. There were welts on my chin and neck. The vinegar stung at first but then the pain diminished after about an hour or so. Two days later and I have a couple of welt marks still visible.

Well, they got me this time.

Sunday’s score was Sea Nettles 1 Bogie 0.

Awww, sorry James. Sometimes they just aren't avoidable, except to stay away from where they're heard to be thick. Maybe you'll se a mola next time for your trouble.

I still have welts from Saturday. :-( I've never used vinegar. In fact I don't use anything at all, and the pain seems to subside in around an hour as well. Possibly the vinegar isn't that effective.

Jellyfish Sting First Aid:If you happen to bump into one of our Chesapeake Bay Sea Nettles you will no doubt know it. The sting, while not deadly, is annoying and can be painful. What should you do? If bits or pieces of tentacles are still on the skin, scrap them off to keep the stinging cells from additional irritation. Pour alcohol or baby powder on the area to dry it out. If you can, apply diluted ammonia, sodium bicarbonate, vinegar or meat tenderizer to the affected area. Meat tenderizer works well because it breaks down protein and jellyfish venom is made of protein.

I can't remember what my grandmother used for us when we were kids.

Good idea though to have buddy assist in getting tentacles off.