The Smack*

I read an article on 20 Unusual Uses of Vodka.

The insteresting part was this:

 

"Jelly Fish Bite Soother

Much like vodka helps to treat poison ivy on the skin, 

the liquid also helps to alleviate the pain and itch that come post nasty jelly fish bite. 

Bring along a 1:1 mixture of vodka and water in a spray bottle 

to the beach just in case of an attack."

There's a few things I'd like to point out.

1. I've never seen a jelly fish with teeth and never received a "bite" from one.

If I ever saw one with teeth I would probably crap my pants and pass out

because I imagine one would look like a massive Kraken with stinging tenticles

and a beak like mouth.

2. I've never witnessed a jellyfish "attack". I've never known them to actually be capable

of going after a specific person or thing. Plus, what would you call a movie

about a jellyfish attack? Jellyfish doesn't really strike fear.

Neither does Stinging Nettle.

Jaws is taken.

3. Watering down vodka to spray on your skin after being viciously attacked and 

chewed upon by a jellyfish seems a waste of perfectly good vodka.  

I'd suggest drinking it.

For a way to soothe Jellyfish stings without wasting perfectly good liquor 

or peeing on your leg (I'm not making this up), 

go read about meat tenderizer.

Or check out this preventative option.

*A group of jellyfish is called a smack.  I guess we have the name of our movie

Wordless Wednesday

It is Wednesday, right?

I'm not a fan of jellyfish, really (or stinging nettles if you want the local name)

 but I think they're gorgeous in a tank.  

These pics were taken at the Virginia Living Museum 

(one of my very favorite places).

Jellyfish 9-1-1

As every hero must have a tragic flaw, apparently so must every Utopia. Achilles had his heel, Oedipus his excessive pride and Deltaville its jellyfish.

While luckily the sting of the local stinging nettles/sea nettles/jellyfish aren't dangerous to the point of death, they certainly are painful and irritating when you are trying to enjoy a nice day at the beach.  But what can you do to treat those stings?  Some say pee on it.  I always used meat tenderizer.  Some use baking soda.  At Blogfest there was talk of vinegar and sand.  So what really works?  What do the "experts" say you should do?

The first course of action when stung by a jellyfish is to neutralize the stingers.  Unlike bees, jellyfish don't have just one visible stinger you can see to scrape off your skin.  Jellyfish stingers are called nematocysts, are  often harpoon-like and eject from their cells when stimulated by touch or a chemical signals (there are so many things I could say here, but I will keep this PG).  Some believe the best way to neutralize the stingers is to pour urine on the sting.  While many people swear it works, there is no scientific data supporting its effectiveness.  I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I want anyone peeing on my leg, or any other part of my body.  Vinegar is actually the best thing to use to neutralize everything.  Just pour it on the sting (meat tenderizer and baking soda also work if used in a paste form but paste should be made from the saltwater not freshwater and meat tenderizer can cause a rash).

After neutralizing the stingers, you need to remove the ones that might be left on the skin.  The best way to do this is shaving cream and a razor.  I don't know about you, but I typically do my shaving prior to going on the beach.  It's better for everyone that way.  However, if a razor isn't handy, you can also used some sand to rub on the affected area to scrub off whatever might be left.  It's important to remember to neutralize the stingers before trying to remove them (and no you can't see them) from the site as rubbing them can release more venom and spread the sting. 

Better yet, prevent the sting in the first place while also protecting your skin from the sun's harmful rays use SafeSea Jellyfish Sting Lotion.  It works by putting a slick coating on your skin that works in several different way.  The slippery texture makes it hard for the stingers to attach to your skin, it absorbs secretions from your skin that tell the jellyfish it's in contact with prey or predator (like a clown fish) and it has chemical stoppers that disrupt the chemical communication required for the sting to occur.  I've heard it works really well.  To the point that one year the company could not keep up with the demand.

Or, you can keep track of the current position of jellyfish swarms by checking out this site designed to track them: NOAA Jellyfish Forecast Personally I think NOAA has way too much time on their hands!

Meat Tenderizer- A Girl's Best Friend

I bet you think this is going to be about cooking or grilling the world's best steak... Wrong!  I'm talking Jellies- fish that is.

Anyone who has spent time in the water knows about jellyfish.  Beautiful and ethereal, these creatures of the deep are a HUGE pain- in whatever area they come into contact with!  While not deadly like the box jellyfish, irukandji and Portuguese Man O'War, they still irritate enough to ruin a beach excursion.

As kids, Kelly and I loved the water(reminder, Kelly is my cousin, kindred spirit, fellow hooligan).  We had a pier right there to use for swimming in Sturgeon Creek, but the creek was full of jellies.  What to do?!  We donned jeans, turtlenecks, knee high socks pulled over our pant legs and an adult who was to be the "sea nettle spotter".  And in we went.  Swimming fully clothed is not easy, especially in winter clothes.  I could never figure out why I was sent to Deltaville in the heat of the summer with long pants and turtlenecks.  I guess it was to prepare for a possible sudden ice age.  I had clean underwear too for those who care to know.

At the local beach- Stingray Point, Kelly and I waged all out warfare on the globs of goop.  Seated on our owl raft (it had clear plastic eyes for underwater viewing) we would bombard the jellyfish with sandballs.  Of course all we really accomplished was sending them deeper and out of sight.  As we got older, we started catching them and dissecting them on the pier.  I'm surprised we didn't get stung doing that.

We had our fair share of stings through the years, and each time, someone would get out the meat tenderizer, make a paste with water and applied it to the sting.  Gross you say?  Neverwork, you think?  WRONG!  It was proven years later that there is an ingrediant in meat tenderizer that neutralizes an enzyme in the sting.  Sometimes baking soda or toothpaste works- similar to a bee sting.

But one place meat tenderizer doesn't work well is the eyes.

Yes, there's a story. 

My cousin Ty, myself and Kelly went out to help Pepop pull the crabpots.  It was something we all loved to do.  Being out on the boat was always fantastic, and messing with the crabs and baitwas always a good time (we are were weird).  So we were hauling pots and the lines were covered with tenticles.  Since the palms of your hands are too think to get stung, it wasn't a big deal.  Unfortunately it was hot, and we were sweating, and Ty rubbed his eyes as they were burning with the salt.  It didn't take long for his eyes to be stung.  He couldn't see, he was freaking out.... Pepop headed back to the house where Memom tried to tend to Ty.  We were quite fascinated with what she might do.  Sprinkle tenderizer directly in his eyes?? 

He ended up going to the Rescue Squad.  Ty was always going to the Rescue Squad but that's something for another post.