The beach was covered with the heads of jellyfish. Its tentacles were removed and the vast beach looked like the planet Mars with little spaceships which had landed and were to stay. We immediately told our son and daughter to not touch any of them and stay back so we walked away on the coast where the sand was dry and there were no heads of jellyfish. We were in a resort we had gone often for fifteen years on the coast of South Carolina.
We had seen jelly fish on the beach all the other times we were there but never this many covering the beach. No one was in the water although the life guards were there. People were walking like us but some through the maze of jelly fish’s heads. Parents kept telling their kids to not touch them. People made comments but no one seemed to know much about jelly fish. We usually had gone during June and spring but this time we were there in the middle of August. Was this typical and what kind of jelly fish were they?
The first one that came to my mind was Portuguese Man of War. My son beat me to it and he said it can have a deadly sting. Our kids were in high school and bigger than we as parents.
Our daughter reminded us about the time her brother was bitten by a jelly fish and the lifeguard just put vinegar and water and he was fine. No one was concerned about the jelly fish all the times we went there but this time people were confused and concened. People and kids were asking the same question we were, “What ate the tentacles?”
As we walked along a man approached us and said, ” I don’t know if I’m going golfing today. My husband said why since it was a perfect day to golf. He said to him that it couldn’t be the jellyfish on the beach since he would be not golfing on the sand. The man had a serious and rather fearful look and said, “Its not the jellyfish I’m worried about. Their dead. Its the alligators which sneak up on the golf course!” We laughed but he did not think it was so funny.
We like most people decided to do something different that day and not be on the beach. The man we were talking to also was going anyplace but golfing.
We had heard of people being stung by the jellyfish in other beaches we were but nobody worried about it nor did anyone know any difference from one to another. Worst of all most of us had not bothered to find out.
When we were eating lunch in the marina and eating fish we were rather quiet and reflective. This was unusual for us. We noticed some other families from the same resort who were eating with us looking like us. My daughter suddenly said, “Do you remember when Steve told us how he was attacked by a jelly fish early when he took an early swim?” We all then remembered.
Steve was an architect from Ohio and his family had lived in South Carolina for twenty years.
My son said, “Didn’t he end up in the hospital?” We all remembered and decided to go see our relatives and get the story straight. Steve spent several days in the hospital and hesitated about the details. He said that he went swimming in the ocean where our resort was at 7:00 A.M. and all of a sudden he was attacked not only by one jellyfish but several. He did not want to provide any more details. As for the many jelly fish’s heads on the beach he said that it happened off and on but especially in August. We stopped and think and realized that Steve never went in the ocean with us, just the pool.
As I look at a breathtaking photo of a jellyfish in light blue water, it looks so very peaceful and beautiful. A master painter could not paint such beauty. The hemisphere is almost perfect. There is white and silver lighting on the top and edges which flows into the many tentacles which are a variety of length, width, and texture. There are all kinds of variation of hues of blue from alomost white to a dark blue. Some of the tentacles are white or off white with many having highlights on the edge. There are a few tentacles which are gray and some a light rose color. Half of them look like hanging pearls. Yet, this beauty can kill. It is a Portuguese Man-of-War.
“Sailing where the wind takes it in the warm oceans of the world, the iridescent beauty of the Portuguese Man-of-War disguises its deadly sting.” Wildlife Fact-File
How did it get its name? It was given its name by sailors in the 18th. century who reported sighting a creature that looked like a Portuguese ship. They are found throughout warm seas of the world. It is most common in the Gulf Stream of the Northern Atlantic and the Indian and Pacific oceans. Not much is known about the effects of pollution and reduced fish stocks but presently it is in no danger.
The length of its body is 3-14 inches. The tentacles usually are 45 inches. In rare occasions the tentacles may grow as long as 150 inches. Their reproduction is asexual budding. Polyps break away from the main colony to form new and separate colonies. The lifestyle is a marine wanderer but it can be found in large groups. It will eat any small fish and its lifespan is only a few months.
The related species are numerous in the genus. There are at least 20 different species recorded in the Mediterranean area alone. Close relatives include the by-the-wind-sailor.
What are the features of the Portuguese Man-of-War? The float is above water and is large. It is gas-filled and acts as a sail. When there is a storm it can be deflated so that the jellyfish sinks just beneath the water’s surface. There it will be safe from wind and waves.
“A small member of the jack family of fish can often be found among the tentacles. The fish is immune to the Portuguese man-of-war’s poison and acts as a lure to attract other fish toward the tentacles. It will then feed on any remains and also on the “dead” ends of tentacles.” Wildlife Fact-File
They live normally in the offshore waters of warm seas throughout the world. Many times they are found in large groups. They tend to drift poleward during the warmer months. Its translucent and iridescent float extends 6 inches above the surface of the water and acts like a sail. It can even maintain a course the way a sailboat does.
The bluebottle (P. utriculis) is a deadly relative of the Portuguese man-of-war and is found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. They are related to corals and sea fans.
A photo illustrates how a jellyfish releases a deadly cloud of poisoned barbs from stinging cells called mematocysts. Its tentacles become gray and black like smoke in a fire. Once a fish is caught it is drawn up by the muscular stinging tenatacles to be eaten by the jellyfish’s feeding polyps.
Another photo illustrates the brilliance of the lit up lucent tentacles full of white, silver, and light blues. The Portuguese man-of-war drifts in the warm waters off Mozambique. Its trailing tentacles mean certain death for any small fish that may carelessly brush past.
How do they Breede? It is not fully understood. What is known is that the polyps within the colony are responsible for reproduction. New colonies are generated asexually from these polyps. Each Portuguese man-of-war can reproduce itself many times over. This explains why they can appear in huge numbers. A photo of a complex design illustrates how it is produced from tiny cells. Its larvae soon grow to resemble miniatures of the adult.
Habitat: “Beneath the Portuguese man-of-war’s float are clusters of polyps, called a colony. Many tentacles hang from the colony, and some contain stinging cells that paralyze small fish and swim close by. The jellyfish’s muscular stinging cells then lift the prey up into the colony. Special feeding polyps in the colony digest the fish.” Wildlife Fact-File It is not a selective eater. It will eat any fish small enough to be overcome quickly but it does not attack the smal fish of the jack family because it helps it to lure and trap prey.
There is a photo of a closeup of the stinging cells on tentacles which is so very beautiful in design. There are numerous curved lines and many shine like diamonds and pearls but inside is poison so beware. Mematocysts are the stinging cells. The Portuguese man-of-war is armed with numerous ones. Each cell contains a coiled hollow tube tipped with barbs. Any pressure on the cells causes the barbs to be released. They shoot into the prey like miniature harpoons and remain attached to the tentacles. The sting contains a powerful poison similar to cobra venom. Stung fish die quickly.
The questions still remain: “What kind of jellyfish were the ones we saw which covered the beach? Did a group of Portuguese men-of-war attack Steve? Why were all the tentacles gone from the jellyfish? What ate them? Would Steve have survived if he had not gotten to the hospital at once?”
“The Portuguese man-of-war is a complex form of life. It is an entire animal colony, composed of several types of polyp. Each has a special function, and they work together to swim, feed, and reproduce.” Wildlife Fact-File
