Unusual Phenomenon on the Beach

[Grayton Girl]

Those of you who have walked the beach in the last week or so will surely have noticed all the Portuguese Man-Of-Wars that have washed up. I am talking THOUSANDS of Man-of-Wars, littering the beach along the water line and up at the high tide line. I have never seen anything like it before.

According to my "shell" book, Man-Of-Wars are not that common along our shores (although you will see some every year), but are very common on the lower Atlantic and the Florida Keys. The tentacles can reach down 60 feet on the largest specimens. Getting stung by a Man-Of-War is an extremely painful affair, which will leave raised welts. Some people can become very ill and even die if the sting is severe. The inflated sail allows it to be driven by the wind, but it cannot steer itself. My book says: "It is the triangular shape of this sail that reminded English sailors of the slanting sails of a Portuguese vessel and inspired the name."

Here are some photos from yesterday showing the Man-Of-Wars near the water and then up higher on the beach, all dried out:

Something else that I noticed for the first time ever (and I have been walking these beaches for 40-something years) were these small beautiful purple snails. They looked like Moonsnails (Shark Eyes or Cats Eyes) but were more delicate and purple. They had clear air-inflated bubbles coming out of the opening so they float on the water.

I looked in the trusted shell book and learned that they are called Purple Sea Snails. And guess what??? They use the "raft" of bubbles to float on the surface of the water where they feed on .... Portuguese Man-Of-Wars!! Wow! You learn something new every day! My shell book says that the shores of Key West have actually appeared purple at times because they were so littered with these shells. I am surprised I have never seen them before.

Here is a photo of one of the bigger ones in my hand (you can see its little bubble raft) and also a collection of the ones I found yesterday, after I boiled them and took the dead snails out.

 

[grace]

beautiful!!!
of course the snails were dead before you harvested and boiled them, right?

 

[Grayton Girl]

beautiful!!!
of course the snails were dead before you harvested and boiled them, right?

Yes, the snails were washed up on shore and dead when I found them. I just wanted to get the dead snails out of the shell, so I thought boiling them would make them come out easier. Seemed to do the trick.

 

[grace]

I just wanted to get the dead snails out of the shell, so I thought boiling them would make them come out easier. Seemed to do the trick.

yummy....
snail stew

 

[BookMan]

I noticed the man-of-wars on Friday. There were thousands from Grayton to Watercolor. I don't know how far they stretched. It was fairly windy on Thursday and Friday and they were pretty far up the beach. I was stung by one once when I lived in Fort Lauderdale and it left welts and spots for months, not to mention hurt like hell. This is the first time I have seen them here, or anywhere in that quantity.

 

[Mango]

Interesting. Thanks for posting. Those blue shells are very pretty. Enjoy!

I was curious and wondered why they might be washing ashore in our area and why now? According to Wiki.........some excerpts....although, most information doesn't mention the Gulf as frequently.

"They come ashore all along the northern Gulf of Mexico and both east and west coasts of Florida as well the Hawaiian Islands.

It is seldom that only one Portuguese Man O' War is found; the discovery of one is usually a warning of more to come as they can "swarm" in groups of thousands."

So, maybe the winds just happen to be favoring the Gulf this time.

Also, I read that even though they may be dead, they can still sting. The treatment is different than jellyfish.

Here was the protocol:

Detached tentacles and dead specimens (including those which wash up on shore) can sting just as painfully as the live creature in the water, and may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the creature or the detachment of the tentacle.

Research suggests that in the normal course the best treatment for a sting is:
(a) to avoid any further contact with the creature and carefully remove any remnants of the creature from the skin using an object (taking care not to touch them directly with fingers or any other part of the skin to avoid secondary stinging); then


(b) to apply salt water to the affected area (not fresh water, which tends to make the affected area worse)[4]; then


(c) to follow up with the application of hot water (45?C/113?F) to the affected area, which eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.[5].; and finally,


(d) to apply ice, preferably in the form of an [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icepack"]icepack[/ame] as this should be effective at suppressing any swelling and pain through reducing the activity of the toxins and reducing the sensation, and therefore pain, of the area of skin around the ice. Additionally, ice constricts blood vessels, reducing the speed at which the venom travels to other parts of the body.


(e) washing with vinegar, disolves the proteins that cause the stinging. (I learned this from a life guard that was working at the beach when I got stung.)
The Portuguese Man O' War is often confused with [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish"]jellyfish[/ame] by its victims, which may lead to improper treatment of stings, as the venom differs from that of true jellyfish.

 

[sunspotbaby]

They were all over the beach by Whale's Tail Last Tuesday. I'm so beach ignorant, I thought they were some kind of jellyfish :roll:

Great information and photos! Thanks!

 

[JanetH]

This morning I saw several seagulls eating the washed-up man-of-wars. They would take one (or a piece of one) down to the waters edge and dip it in the surf several times before eating. I don't know how they avoid getting stung by the tentacles. Maybe with the seagulls' help these will disappear from the beach quickly--they are pretty, but make me nervous about walking barefoot.

 

[organicmama]

We saw a bunch of them over the last week & a half. Mr. Clean was freaking out about them. Glad he didn't know that they were just plain old jellies.:shock: My photos won't upload.

 

[Bobby J]

Brody and I ran up and down the beach yesterday popping them with our feet. He loved it. The dead, dried up ones will not bother you. We have been popping them for years. The live ones, different story. They hurt real bad!. The best cure when stung is to pee on the affected area! This can be a problem if stung on your shoulder!