What a great morning - encounter with the lion's mane jellyfish
The sea has become slightly colder, but it is still warm after the shockingly hot summer. Normally in late Juli and August the lion's mane jellyfish, which in Danish has the slightly more mundane name, red fireman, shows up. Maybe because of the heat this year there haven't been too many in the harbour of Copenhagen. But today they were there.
So my morning swim today ended prematurely when I was burned in the face by a floating tentacle. It must have touched the bridge of the nose and a bit of my cheekbones, but when I got up I stupidly dryed the area with my towel spreading the poison. It was some annoying 15 minutes home on bike. What I should have done was brushing it off in the saltwater, then without touching it with the hands scrape it with a knife of creditcard to get out the poison darts and finally put on some vinegar to neutralize the poison. I did the two last things when I got home, but it stings and itches. I have also put on some ice, and after consulting the internet I also put on some local anaesthetic ointment.
What a great way to start the day!
That is horrible! We are lucky in our little harbour here on the sea as the only jelly fish who bother coming in here are tiny little blobs full of lumiscence that when you swim through them it's like little jelly candies and they don't sting.
Ouch, not a good way to start the day, at least it wasn't a man o war :)
These are not near being as dangerous as a man o war. My grandmother told us that she jumped from a boat house when she was a child and right through one of these monsters and she was ill in bed for many weeks! To me the rash stopped in the evening. Scraping off the poison is what you have to do, but they didn't know that when my grandmother was a child.
Ouch!!! That sounds like a really horrible experience. Strange coincidence, as I was out on my motorcycle, when a wasp hit me on the lip at about 100km/h and hand enough life left, to sting me right away. As I'm allergic to Bees, I thought I better play it safe and went home immediately... 15 minutes later, my face swollen like a balloon I'm at my docotor's office...
Hope you are better again!
Your experience sounds much worse than mine. I do not react with allergy to these jellyfish, so a one day rash was all it was. I really hope you get well in a hurry. All the best!
Oh, I wish you well. That doesn't really sound like a good experience.
Source
Hahaha, what a find... I should have had a Scherlock Holmes at my side! But it seems I share this with him:
"I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles."
Oh my god, that looks terrifying. I hope you feel better! I've always lived by the ocean and while I love swimming and being by the water, I'm also equally as afraid of it. The water by me is very dark and you never know what's lurking next to you...
These jellyfish are pretty common, so they do not really scare me that much. But an untrained person going out in a boat, or a tourist swimming on the West coast of Denmark - that makes me worry!
ha, a great day getting stung by a jellyfish! I wonder what a bad day would be like?
I don't know what it was once in Hawaii, but after getting out of the water I had a blister on my arm. It went away after I dried, but for months thereafter, every time I got wet, i.e. took a shower, the blister would reappear. Probably not a jellyfish, because there was no pain involved.
The sea is a mysterious place, and dangerous! Which makes me think of the the grave voice that used to end all the little films made to educate the population on Danish state television in my childhood. When the topic was safety when bathing or sailing, which is a recurring theme in a country consisting of Islands, the voice said: “ONLY A FOOL DO NOT FEAR THE SEA!”
even if there are no Great White Sharks lurking in your waters .....
In Oregon I was once dragged out by a current - I realized how grave the situation was when I noticed people on shore running around alarmed. I made it back, but barely. That day, even a seal did not survive.
With the sea sharks are the least of worries.
How about a selfie? 8-)
Hope the stinging goes away soon.
As you know I have to draw such a selfie... and with all the comments on my posts I never get to draw or dance or comment on other peoples posts!
Go dance, I say, scarface!
Oh man, sorry to hear about that. There an old tale that urinating on a sting helps, but on your face :-/ Glad you didn't try that, it is an old wives tale.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-urinating/
Well, that was also an old advice here. Butt I was ready to let the other swimmers piss in my face.
This scenario should find its way into a comic ;-)
As soon as I read it I knew exactly how that comic would look like... not sure I am going to make it, but those images will stay in my brain for a long time! :)