Jellyfish sting

[Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain]

So I’m at Camber Sands with my boyfriend and there were loads of these little critters fairly near the shore in the water. Boyfriend said he’d stepped on one before and it hurt a lot. I avoided them of course. So are they painful? Why are they so near the shore? I sent a photo to my friend and she thought it was a condom 🤣.

I stepped on one a few years ago in Cornwall. It was very painful, the kind of pain that makes you feel sick. It passed off reasonably quickly, unlike the time I stepped on a weaver fish - that lingered for months! I now wear sea shoes, well worth a tenner even if they only get used a couple of times a year.

I’ll look into sea shoes. Apparently jellyfish in UK shores are quite common now.

You can pick them up for under a tenner in seaside shops. You need at least one size smaller than your normal shoe size, mine are 4 where I usually wear 6. They act like a wetsuit so have the bonus of keeping your feet warm as well as protecting from sea creatures.

Hot Tuna fake crocs from sports direct are perfect for the beach, that's a jellyfish alright

Those are moon jellyfish, probably the most common jellyfish round UK coasts. They give a bit of a sting, but not really bad or long lasting.

Can confirm weever fish are far worse.

Carry a lime! If you get stung, lime neutralises it instantly. Well, it did for a Portuguese man of war sting, so I assume it works for most other jellyfish.

That's a Moon jelly. Stings a bit like a nettle, nothing to fuss about although it's annoying if the stingy bits get wrapped around your arm when you swim.

Weever fish are evil. Best thing for them is to get your foot into water absolutely as hot as you can stand. The heat from the water denatures the protein in the venom or some such thing.

My friend was stung in the neck by one floating in the sea in Cornwall. It hurt for a week or so. I think you're suppised to rub the area vigorously?

I had no idea what it was. Just saw a few of them in different sizes in the waters edge. I’d never hurt it.

I lived by the beach as a kid and these were always being washed up, I must have picked up hundreds of them but never got stung, until now I didn't even realise they could sting you.

Will do! My boyfriend got lime in his corona beer, maybe that’d work?

My SIL saw them in SW France, not far from La Rochelle. She was scared and refused to go into the water.

Sure will! Enjoy your lovely beach.

Used to see loads of these as a kid. The top bit is harmless, the stingers are underneath.

They’re actually amazing to look at. I have seen jellyfish in a tank when I used to volunteer at Horniman Museum in their aquarium but never knew much about them.

Thank you.

Those are moon jellyfish, they don’t really sting. Just carry some vinegar in your boot to neutralise it. They’re not like the sea nettles…those ones pack a zinger. I would mention the man o wars but they aren’t technically jelly fish.

Weaver fish are horrid, as are Atlantic sting rays.