Another monster on the list of Florida's zoo

[JonathanBelles]

Man-of-war's sting 'like a hot knife'

By Mike Donila, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, May 23, 2008

CLEARWATER — Beach lifeguard Cameron Moeller was wrapping up his daily training routine when he saw what he thought was a patch of seaweed.

Swimming about 100 yards off Clearwater Beach in 8-foot deep water, Moeller brushed the patch with his left hand.

That's when he felt the first sting.

"When it first hit me, it felt like a hot knife going in," said Moeller, who has monitored Clearwater's shorelines for the past five years. "The pain, it was bad, really bad."

As a lifeguard, the 23-year-old has pulled four drowning swimmers out of the water and helped save a dozen more.

But on Wednesday morning, caught in the grip of a Portuguese man-of-war, he found himself fighting for his own life.

• • •

The current blew the gelatinous man-of-war onto Moeller's stomach. As he twisted onto his back to thrash it off, the creature wrapped its 8-foot tentacles around his chest, back and arm.

As the pain got worse, Moeller continued to swim toward the shore, dragging the man-of-war behind him.

Panicking, he started pulling off tentacles and swimming faster.

He dragged the man-of-war about 20 yards on shore before finally freeing himself. Then Moeller rinsed at a nearby shower, while the other lifeguards doused him with vinegar. About 15 minutes later, pain hit his chest like a hammer and he struggled to breathe.

He was rushed to the beach's nearby fire station where they hooked him up to a saline IV and treated his body with alcohol. As fire rescue crews monitored his heart rate, he became dizzy and even briefly passed out.

About 20 minutes later, he was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where emergency crews monitored him for the next two hours. He was given hydrocortisone cream, some steroids and painkillers.

On Thursday, he tried to return to work. His boss wouldn't let him.

"He's a tough kid and a good lifeguard," said Joe Lane, the chief life guard.

• • •

Although common from Texas to Florida and north to Cape Cod, the man-of-war rarely travels near shore, tending to stay in open water, where it is pushed by waves and currents. Clearwater officials say they haven't seen one in at least three years.

But with winds blowing from the west the past two weeks, Clearwater officials say a few were found Wednesday on the city's beach. For the next few days, the lifeguard posts will fly purple warning flags, indicating "dangerous marine life" in the waters.

The man-of-war is not actually a jellyfish, but rather a cross between jellyfish and coral, "but a little different," said Jennifer Wheaton, a research program manager with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

It's in the phylum Cnidaria, called siphonophore, and is a colonial animal, meaning it comprises more than one organism.

The man-of-war's gas-filled ridged bladder — usually an iridescent pale pink or blue — floats on the surface while a tangle of tentacles, some longer than 60 feet, twist below.

The tentacles are filled with stinging cells that carry a venom roughly 75 percent as potent as a cobra's.

However, the cells are microscopic, so they don't release as much toxin as a snake, said Jim Culter, senior scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. People hit by them experience great pain. Sometimes the residual effects — depending on the amount of toxin — can be long-lasting.

The creatures eat plankton and small fish. They are targeted by turtles.

Wheaton says they "contain one of the powerful poisons known in a marine animal" and have been known to kill people.

• • •

Moeller says he feels okay now, but his body still itches. The 6-foot, 200-pound Seminole High School graduate proudly shows his battle wounds: three large tentacle burns that stretch across his chest, back and arms, and a baseball-sized burn near his left arm pit.

Moeller, who lives in St. Petersburg, said he initially didn't want to seek help because he thought he was stung by a jellyfish. Two summers ago, he was hit by one and the pain subsided after 20 minutes.

"This was a little different," he said, chuckling.

As for the man-of-war, which was a little smaller than a football: After Moeller was stung, another lifeguard slapped on a pair of gloves, bagged it and took it to the hospital.

Officials there say the "remains were disposed of."

Pictures and source: http://www.tampabay.com/news/environmen ... 520573.ece
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I didnt even know we had Man-of-war in the GOM.

[dizzyfish]

Those burns look nasty!

I wasn't aware we had those in the GOM either.

[Ad Novoxium]

I don't care if they aren't "true jellyfish", Man o' Wars are still painful as heck. No, I never got stung by one, but if you were, would you know the difference?

[JonathanBelles]

They did a segment on it on ABC. Then cut in and right away a man in a leopard thong walks by lol. Anyway....they said those things are popping up all along the w coast of Florida, in fact they showed one dying on the shore during the cast.

[tropicana]

that sounds so terrible, thank god for swimming pools where there are NO creatures swimming in to bite you.
once i was swimming in the Florida Keys and the people next to us swimming nearby with goggles on told us.. Um, dont wanna panic you guys, but dont make any sudden movement, there is a group of barracuddas swimming under us"

it only takes 5 seconds for it to register with me... BARRACUDDASSSS!!!! geezus i still dont think there was anyone else who got out of the water as fast as i did that day.
-justin-

[vbhoutex]

I had a friend taken to the hospital many years ago because some idiots had buried some MOW in a small pit on the beach. She jumped into the pit(two young kids having fun on the beach)and that was all she wrote. She jumped out writhing and screaming and her parents came running and figured out what had happened. I remember many years we had to watch out for MOW when I was growing up in P'cola. I am surprised you guys didn't realize they existed in the GOM! And yes the stings hurt horribly, even if you just get a little bit of the tentacle on you.

I can tell you true stories about surfing with the sharks and dolphins, shark fishing, snorkeling with barracudas, etc. Justin, I couldn't have gotten out of the water quickly when the barracudas were around. We were 1/4 mile out in the water, about 30 feet deep.

[JonathanBelles]

I knew about the 'fields of jellyfish' out in the GOM, not that I have witnessed them. Ive never even been in a boat out in the GOM. I didnt think MOW's would be in the GOM though. I have to say I am jealous that youve surfed with dolphins.

[DanKellFla]

I have swam next to baracudas and have not ever had a problem. Just don't antoginize them and leave them alone. But, I have had some run-ins with the M.O.W. Ouch...Ouch..Ouch, what a painful jellyfish sting..... OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN What the BLEEP is THIS????
And then my surfing buddies explain what it was. After that, I carried some Hydrocortisone in my car.

[vbhoutex]

I knew about the 'fields of jellyfish' out in the GOM, not that I have witnessed them. Ive never even been in a boat out in the GOM. I didnt think MOW's would be in the GOM though. I have to say I am jealous that youve surfed with dolphins.

The dolphins were there because the sharks were there sometimes. They would "surf" the waves too. And the dolphins wouid always stay between us and any sharks.

[Amanzi]

OWCHIE... that looked rather sore!

We had lots of jellyfish and blue bottles on the east coast of South Africa. My son was fling his kite on the beach one afternoon and the string landed on top of a big bunch of blue bottles. Poor child did not know what they where and pulled the string in, as he was doing that, the wind blew the string into his face and of course the stings were wrapped around the string and stung him all over his face. The worst was his eyelids, thankfully he did close his eyes. Little guy was in so much pain.

There was also a story going around that a man killed himself by picking up a jellyfish and putting it ontop of this head....not the brightest thing I have heard of (if it is true).