A few Portuguese man-of-war sightings

[Kurt]

I saw a tiny one the other day - I think they are fascinating - and pretty.

Portuguese Man-of-Wars, Portuguese Man-of-War Pictures, Portuguese Man-of-War Facts - National Geographic

Anyone unfamiliar with the biology of the venomous Portuguese man-of-war would likely mistake it for a jellyfish. Not only is it not a jellyfish, it's not even an "it," but a "they." The Portuguese man-of-war is a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together.

Portuguese man-of-war sightings prompt caution for swimmers | city, war, panama - The News Herald

Local officials have been warning swimmers about Portuguese man-of-war for several weeks but so far only a handful of stings has been reported, officials said Monday.

?I?ve heard a few calls go out on stings,? said Chief Robert Harding of the Panama City Beach Police Department. ?They?re easy to spot on the water.?


At its top the Portuguese man-of-war resembles an old sailing ship and while it has no natural means of propulsion, its purple or blue head rides the waves and is pushed by the current and wind. Below the head can be 165 feet of venomous tentacles used to kill fish and other prey, according to National Geographic.


National Geographic described the sting as ?excruciatingly painful? for humans but rarely deadly.

YouTube - Portugese Manowar

 

[scooterbug44]

Cool - I never saw one in the water, so I thought they poufed up like that when dead/washed up.

 

[Carol G]

I love seeing these guys, but some of the ones I've seen this year are HUGE! A few the size of a football, and one even bigger than that... prior to this year, I've only seen them under 3" long, has anyone else noticed this? Are they unusually large this year, or have I just not been around long enough to know all their variations?

 

[Will B]

The thing that has always fascinated me is that they are not one animal. They are four different types of polyps that all coexist as one. I thought it was two (tentacles and bulb), but I found that it was four when I went to validate myself.

Cool to look at, but from somebody who has been stung by one, I hope you never ever have it happen to you. It was about like having a red hot hangar pressed down the length on my leg. Took about 4 months to heal...

 

[MrMentalFitness]

Great. Juuuuuuust great. I'm gonna be keepin' my happy carcass in a beach chair with nary a toe in the surf. Dadgum Portuwhatchamacallits. Why can't they just go back to Portugal where they belong!?! THIS is why we need to do something about illegal sea creature immigration.

 

[BeachbumAggie]

I was in Galveston Island, TX last week and there were thousands washed up the first several days I was there-they were littering the beach!

 

[beachnuevo]

Are the storms washing them in?

We'll be vacationing there in May, I've been reading the posts and wonder if the larger numbers of PMOW are washing in due to more than normal stormy weather in the gulf or in FL?? Don't they tend to just go with the flow.....washing in where the currents send them?
I don't usually pay attention to Florida weather, so I thought this might make sense.

 

[easton714]

Not PMOW, I don't think, but we saw dozens of jellies on the beach last week in Seagrove. Purple flags all week.

Hardest part was trying to keep my three year old from playing with them.

 

[Matt J]

Unless they have an inflated sack on them they are probably just the cannon ball jellies that wash up on occasion. I've never heard of someone being stung by those. They are generally blob like and completely clear.