Stingrays tend to bury themselves into the sand, which also makes them difficult to see. While stings are common in this area, few visitors are aware of how to treat them properly. There are several species of jellyfish that come to our waters. The most common is the cannonball jellyfish. The moon, lions mane, sea wasp box jellyfish , sea nettle and even a Portuguese man-o-war have been spotted.
The sea wasp, or box jellyfish, is the one that stings with the most venom and causes the most pain. There are several species of stingrays on Hilton Head Island.
The Southern stingray, roughtail stingray, smooth butterfly, spotted eagle, bullnose, cownose and Atlantic rays are in our waters. The majority of stingray stings are reported around Coligny. This may be due to the fact that there are more swimmers in this area. Do not rub sand or towels over the area as that will inflame the sting for both jellyfish and stingrays. For jellyfish, put either shaving cream or a baking soda and vinegar paste onto the welt. Then, scrape it off gently with a credit card.
This helps to remove any barbs that may have been left on your skin without re-stinging yourself. With a stingray all you have to do is take out the barb that has stung you if it is still embedded into the skin. Finally, take white vinegar and run it over the jellyfish sting for at least 30 seconds.
Be sure that all the barbs have been removed as pure white vinegar may cause the barbs to implode and cause more stinging.
But on Friday, everything about the beach felt out of place. The tide was abnormally low. And then, I looked at the ground. Thousands of light brown cannonball jellyfish cluttered the beach from the shore to the tideline for miles up the coast. The sight can be disturbing and baffling — especially with all those dead creatures laying on nearly deserted beaches.
This is from this weekend pic. So jellyfish tend to travel in large blooms, and sometimes rough winds, swells and currents can knock hundreds of them out at once and send them all to shore in a sweep —making for quite the jellyfish graveyard. So jellyfish are really bad swimmers.
Because jellies are mostly made of water, so they die quickly after washing up on shore. They have no tentacle but a gristle-like feeding apparatus formed by the joining of the oral arms. Mushroom Jelly - The mushroom jelly is often mistaken for the cannonball jelly, but it differs in many ways.
The larger mushroom jelly, growing to 20 inches in diameter, lacks the brown bands associated with the cannonball and is much flatter and softer. Like the cannonball, the mushroom has no tentacles, however, it possesses long finger-like appendages hanging from the feeding apparatus. The mushroom jelly does not represent a hazard to humans.
Moon Jelly - Probably the most widely recognized jellyfish, the moon jelly is relatively infrequent in South Carolina waters. It has a transparent, saucer-shaped bell and is easily identified by the four pink horseshoe-shaped gonads visible through the bell. It typically reaches inches in diameter, but some are known to exceed 20 inches.
The moon jelly is only slightly venomous. Contact can produce symptoms from immediate prickly sensations to mild burning. Pain is usually restricted to immediate area of contact. Lion's Mane - Also know as the winter jelly, the lion's mane typically appears during colder months of the year. The bell, measuring inches, is saucer-shaped with reddish brown oral arms and eight clusters of tentacles hanging underneath. Lions Manes are generally considered moderate stingers.
Symptoms are similar to those of the moon jelly, however, usually more intense. Pain is relatively mild and often described as burning rather than stinging. Sea Nettle - The sea nettle is frequently observed in South Carolina waters during summer months. This jellyfish is saucer- shaped with brown or red pigments, usually inches in diameter. Four oral arms and long marginal tentacles hang from the bell. Considered moderate to severe, symptoms from sea nettle stings are similar to those of the lion's mane.
Sea Wasp - Known as the box jelly because of its cube-shaped bell, the sea wasp is the most venomous jellyfish inhabiting our waters. Their potent sting can cause severe dermatitis and may even require hospitalization. Sea wasps are strong, graceful swimmers reaching inches in diameter and inches in height.
Several long tentacles hang from the four corners of the cube. A similar species, the four-tentacled Tamoya haplonema, also occurs in our waters. Portuguese Man-of-War - Although the Portuguese man-of-war is not a "true" jellyfish. These animals consist of a complex colony of individual members, including a float, modified feeding polyps and reproductive medusae.
They typically inhabit the warm waters of the tropics, sub-tropics and Gulf Stream. Propelled by wind and ocean currents, they sometimes drift into nearshore waters of South Carolina. Though they infrequently visit our coast, swimmers should learn to identify these highly venomous creatures. The gas-filled float of the manof- war is purple-blue and can reach lengths of 12 inches.
Under the float, tentacles equipped with thousands of nematocysts hang from the feeding polyps extending up to 65 feet.
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