Jellyfish

luckat

Apparently the papers say there are jellyfish all along the Dublin coast at the moment.

Is there such a thing as a sea swimming website that keeps track of water conditions around the country - tides, temperature, water cleanliness, jellyfish, etc?

dregin

The local authorities (county council, health board) are responsible for the cleanliness of the water. I know on most of the Fingal beaches there are boards with upto date water test results. Dunno if there's a website, there are sites that keep current reports on water conditions for surfing.

There's already a thread on this in the "Dublin City" forum.

crazy days

True, the lifeguards are advising ppl not to enter the water at seapoint and the fourty foot, as five ppl have been hospitalised with severe stings :eek: ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! portuguese man of war, which are clear and have 80 foot long tenticles and the big red jelly fish too are to blame.
everybody outta the water !!!!!!!!!!!!!

dregin

If you're feeling hardcore take a trip down to O'Dares in Bray and get a full body wetsuit made

luckat

Ewww, 80-foot tentacles???

Damn them for fishing out the cod - cod used to feast on jellyfish every year.

Where's the Dublin City thread, please? I'll look around, but didn't know there was a Dublin City forum.

Was swimming in Connemara yesterday, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

luckat

Are they still around, anyone know?

cormie

I heard from a reliable source (not a bull****ter) that there are tiny sea creatures on the east coast now who will go up a mans you know what :eek:

Anyone else hear this?

danniemcq

sorry incorrect them little critters live in the rivers and lakes of tropical regions and as far as i know they can't survive in salt water so i seriously doubt it. although if you are still scared (!) never pee in the water and if you really have 2 pee then pee near a girl thats peeing also as they are more attracted to the female!

The tax man

luckat wrote:

Are they still around, anyone know?

The tiny little beach beside the forty foot was covered in loads of little jellyfish during the week. Now these things were really small but there was hundreds of them right along the water line. :eek: :eek:
Along the coast of Wicklow I've seen some huge jellyfish washed up on the beachs over the past few weeks.

luckat

How do jellyfish stings actually work? Do they put a sting into your skin, like a tiny bee - or rather a series of stings - or is there a liquid on the skin (wouldn't you think it would wash off?) or what?

They were recommending urine as a specific for stings on Mooney Goes Wild, and also a paste of seawater and sand; they said not to use fresh water, said it made the sting worse. And they said don't spread it on with your hand, as that would sting your hand too - use a flat pebble instead.

I was kind of wondering how the sting transferred, and this makes me wonder about how the stings actually work Anyone know?

The tax man

From the Ocean channel website:

On their tentacles, jellyfish have stinging cells called cnidocytes. Each of these cnidocytes contains a "nematocyst," that when triggered by touch or chemicals, shoots into the prey like a harpoon. A toxin is also released which stuns or kills the food. Some jellyfish, like the sea nettle, do not have very potent toxin, and will hurt but will not cause lasting damage. Others, like the box jellyfish, are extremely dangerous--these are able to kill humans a severe sting! There are jellies that have no stinging cells at all--comb jellies have rows of tiny undulating cilia that help them move around, and filter feed small plants from the sea.

Evil Phil

Urine contains salt.

luckat

Seawater contains salt too. Ammonia would be my guess; in fact, there's stuff called Afterbite that you can get in Boots that's good for stings of various kinds, which is a roll-on of ammonia, more or less.

Evil Phil

Stings do tend to be acidic in nature or is it alkaline. Isn't ammonia an alkaline? Urine does contain a ureic (spl?) acid - kinda like using vinger on wasp stings (or is that baking soda?).