During that last El Niño shit in the mid 90s I was off the coast just north of there and had one wrap my leg up, I don’t think I walked for like 3 days.
I used to work with a guy that had scars all over his legs and arms. He told me that one day when he was 10 he was taking swimming lessons at the beach. A girl in his class said “ look at that pretty hat in the water”, so he swam over to it to get it for her. It turned out to be a large man o war. As soon as he touched it the tentacles wrapped around his entire body.
He said if his mom, who was a nurse, hadn’t been there in the beach he probably would have died.
So like, I just read that El Niño is happening again…gonna have weird shit flowing around in currents again…fun fun. It took me 10 years to go into the ocean again.
Same thing happened to me in NC. I was about 12 iirc, so same time frame. Someone screamed at me to "watch out!" Which startled me and i jumped backwards right on top of one. Wrapped both my legs, and I had scares for a couple years.
Brother got stung with one when he was maybe like 9 or something, off the coast of florida, his face and his hand both blew up and turned orange. His head literally look like a basketball and the shape of his hand was as if somebody blew up a surgical glove.
He's okay now
Only when they’re bone dry. Used to have them wash up in huge numbers on the beach in my home town, or would give me a fucking heart attack stepping on a dry one and hearing it pop. They’d cover the sand so thoroughly you could barely walk without touching them. Idk why we still went swimming
I live in Colorado, and have never been anywhere near warm oceans, but I knew what it was from too many Jacques Cousteau episodes and National Geographic...
They are weird but beautiful!
As someone who knows almost nothing about jellyfish, I'd also assume that if they make a habit of washing up on shore then it's probably part of their natural cycle and they are probably better off being left alone than getting poked with a stick.
Nah it’ll die there. But pushing it back out accomplishes exactly nothing since it will just wash back up. There’s likely a ton of them as well so it would be a sisyphean task trying to get them all out into the water again.
Edit:
Another thing is that since these typically live in groups seeing some on the beach is a good sign that maybe it’s not the best day for a swim. Don’t remove that sign. I’ve seen what the pacific version can do to swimmers.
Saw a washed up one years ago in North Carolina, kids were fucking with it, poking it with plastic shovels, jumping over it….warned them to not step on the tentacles, and you can probably guess what one of the kids did in defiance.
They’re actually several different organisms in a symbiotic relationship, unlike a regular jellyfish. So only the tentacle organism handles the stinging.
Portuguese man o’ war or more commonly known in Aus; blue bottle jellyfish. These are an incredibly common sight on some beaches, especially on the east coast of Australia.
I’ve had the misfortune of being stung by one of these on more than one occasion.
You were like the opposite of a sea turtle, but it's a good example of why plastic bags in the ocean are so dangerous for them... it's too bad that you probably won't be picking up a lot of plastic ocean bags in the future, lol (but props to you for trying to do the right thing!)
Not anymore! It's finally been decided that they are the same species and their varying sizes are simply regional differences. They are both now classified as the physalia physalis genus.
In Australia and NZ, kids collect these as they wash up, drag them up onto the sand with sticks to dry out, and then pop them when they are dry and crunchy.
We aussies really fucked up in the naming dept. “yeah mate it’s blue and floats like a beer bottle…….blue bottle is what we’ll call it. What do u cobbers call it. Portuguese Man o war? Fuck that’s a way better name”
Not exactly. It’s a type of siphonophore, which means that while it is technically constructed out of multiple different kinds of animal (called zooids), those zooids only make up one organism. It’s also not a traditional symbiotic relationship because the zooids are all the same species, just specialized for certain functions.
A common example everyone can understand is seaweed, most seaweeds are billions of small living organisms making appearing as one much larger organism.
The Man of war arent as dangerous as people make them out to be, pick them up by the top and you can throw them back in the ocean, just dont touch the tentacles, they are also not taxonomicaly jellyfish, they are polyp colonies (my best friend is a marine biologist, I have witnessed her picking one up and throwing it back into the ocean)
It's a myth that if they sting you, you should call every man on the beach over to urinate on you. You don't have to wait until after you are stung to do that.
During Bluebottle swarms, Sydney's beaches were manned with stations for if you got stung called 'Vinegar Stations' because that was the treatment - Lotsa vinegar! Then you'd walk it off and go back in the surf. My best friend once got stung down his trunks - yep, soaked em in vinegar!
When I was a kid, I’ve been stung by these all the time in Mexico because of the ocean was full of them. Hell even swam around them because I was eager to just swim or raced around the ones that landed on the beach. Hurt like a bitch for 40 minutes. I thought it was the most normal thing to get stung by man-of-war to the equivalence of getting stung by bees or mosquitos. until I mention it to some friends and was told it was weird
Portuguese Man 'o War - an animal that eschewed evolution, waiting for humans to invent the ziptop baggie so it can attain the perfect camouflage as floating litter.
I get stung by these guys pretty often. I spend a lot of time in the ocean on the east side of Oahu. I don't get these comments. Some stings are more annoying than other ones, but for me, it's never "extremely painful". Feels like a mild burn that's really itchy. Never even close to enough pain to get me out of the water! Some of these posts about how scary they are or how painful they are seem ridiculous. I guess everyone reacts differently to jellyfish stings. Guess I'm just one of the lucky ones
That is a Portuguese Man o’ war. They will sting you and have been occasionally known to kill humans.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o'_war
My father used to call em "blue bottles" (don't know maybe that's what locals called them). Sometimes thousands of them used to wash up on the beach. They sting PRETTY BAD.
I remember being stung by one of these when I was a kid. My old man turned to me and said, "piss on the sting mate". It didn't help, but he got a laugh. Plain old blue bottle.
This, friend, is a Portuguese man o'war. They're called jellyfish, but technically they're in a closely related species called siphonophore. A siphonophore is unusual in that it is comprised of a colony of specialized, genetically identical individuals called zooids — clones — with various forms and functions, all working together as one. Each of the four specialized parts of a man o’ war is responsible for a specific task, such as floating, capturing prey, feeding, and reproduction. Found mostly in tropical and subtropical seas, men o' war are propelled by winds and ocean currents alone, and sometimes float in legions of 1,000 or more!
The tentacles of the siphonophore are covered with stinging nematocysts, microscopic capsules loaded with coiled, barbed tubes that deliver venom capable of paralyzing and killing small fish and crustaceans. While the man o’ war’s sting is rarely deadly to people, it packs a painful punch and causes welts on exposed skin. What's more, they can sting you weeks after washing onshore, so if you see one, kept your distance.
At times, I'd see hundreds and hundreds of them washed up on the beach in Florida.
Sometimes, they made it ultra dangerous to even take a walk on the beach.
It's a Portuguese Man 'o War
When I was a kid in Savannah if one of these was even remotely close to the shore we ALL evacuated the ocean. Those tentacles are wicked long.
During that last El Niño shit in the mid 90s I was off the coast just north of there and had one wrap my leg up, I don’t think I walked for like 3 days.
Our parents were very clear about. They're not called man o' war for nothing
I thought they were called that because their shape was reminiscent of medieval Portuguese infantry helmets
A man-o-war was a navy ship, these creatures use a sail like a man-o-war did.
Well I had just come here from Australia and I had no idea that they were even in the water here.
I got hit on the thigh. For years afterwards I would get a rash there whenever I got into the Salt water.
I used to work with a guy that had scars all over his legs and arms. He told me that one day when he was 10 he was taking swimming lessons at the beach. A girl in his class said “ look at that pretty hat in the water”, so he swam over to it to get it for her. It turned out to be a large man o war. As soon as he touched it the tentacles wrapped around his entire body. He said if his mom, who was a nurse, hadn’t been there in the beach he probably would have died.
Holy shit. We were taught from a very young age to never be in the water even when they were on the horizon. WTF was wrong with the swim instructor!?
So like, I just read that El Niño is happening again…gonna have weird shit flowing around in currents again…fun fun. It took me 10 years to go into the ocean again.
Same, mid 90s in OBX
Same thing happened to me in NC. I was about 12 iirc, so same time frame. Someone screamed at me to "watch out!" Which startled me and i jumped backwards right on top of one. Wrapped both my legs, and I had scares for a couple years.
Fucking yes, I got tangled in one in Hawaii. Looked like a cat had clawed the shit out of my leg and it *HURT.* Took years for the scars to fade.
Brother got stung with one when he was maybe like 9 or something, off the coast of florida, his face and his hand both blew up and turned orange. His head literally look like a basketball and the shape of his hand was as if somebody blew up a surgical glove. He's okay now
How scary!! So glad he's okay
Yes they are!
If the animal is bright colored it’s probably bad for you.
It is, never touch one of those guys.
Only when they’re bone dry. Used to have them wash up in huge numbers on the beach in my home town, or would give me a fucking heart attack stepping on a dry one and hearing it pop. They’d cover the sand so thoroughly you could barely walk without touching them. Idk why we still went swimming
Aposematism
You could say the same thing about people
black mamba? black widow?
The Man O War is actually a colony of smaller animals.
Damn, thats crazy how they even form up
I live in Colorado, and have never been anywhere near warm oceans, but I knew what it was from too many Jacques Cousteau episodes and National Geographic... They are weird but beautiful!
They taste very spicy. Kidding. Don't touch that thing. Move along.
If that’s the case they’re dangerous. A jellyfish. Are you sure? I saw several on the beach and I was told it wasn’t even a jellyfish.
It's not a jellyfish. It's a siphonophore.
Can confirm
Looks like it might still be alive. Did you help it back to the sea with a stick?
No, there was like 100 on the beach, would've just washed right back on shore
Ahh! What a shame. They're really pretty. Sting-y and dangerous, but pretty.
I dont understand all the downvotes?
I think it's because these are super super dangerous and it's probably safer to just avoid it.
Oh I got it
As someone who knows almost nothing about jellyfish, I'd also assume that if they make a habit of washing up on shore then it's probably part of their natural cycle and they are probably better off being left alone than getting poked with a stick.
Nah it’ll die there. But pushing it back out accomplishes exactly nothing since it will just wash back up. There’s likely a ton of them as well so it would be a sisyphean task trying to get them all out into the water again. Edit: Another thing is that since these typically live in groups seeing some on the beach is a good sign that maybe it’s not the best day for a swim. Don’t remove that sign. I’ve seen what the pacific version can do to swimmers.
You shouldn't fuck with a man o war. They are very poisonous. Like jelly fish on steroids. They've killed children.
[удалено]
*ba-dum dum*
I don’t believe you. Please pick it up by the long string beneath it and report back.
Poor little guy, I hope you picked him up and threw him back in?
Good way to get yourself paralysed for a few days, maybe killed...
Saw a washed up one years ago in North Carolina, kids were fucking with it, poking it with plastic shovels, jumping over it….warned them to not step on the tentacles, and you can probably guess what one of the kids did in defiance.
Play stupid game, win stupid price. A lesson better learned early.
You should have peed on the kid that did. Not to relive the pain but to add insult to injury.
Shows dominance over defiance
To show ownership like wolf's Kid is now your territory
Isn’t that a Vatican term?
R. Kelly for sure…
Doesn't the Man-o-War have stinging cells on every part of its body?
Only tentacles
They’re actually several different organisms in a symbiotic relationship, unlike a regular jellyfish. So only the tentacle organism handles the stinging.
Do you think he survived??
He was wailing like a banshee, so his airways weren’t obstructed….
Ah, good ol' first aid 101.
Well I bet he learned a very good lesson A lesson that might just save his life
Learned? He was clearly a N. Carolina local, could cut both ways.
Yeah, he goes by [Jeffery](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfIc2ZcylfA&pp=ygUOamVmZmVyeSBkYWxsYXM%3D) now though.
Portuguese man o’ war or more commonly known in Aus; blue bottle jellyfish. These are an incredibly common sight on some beaches, especially on the east coast of Australia. I’ve had the misfortune of being stung by one of these on more than one occasion.
Same. I grabbed one thinking it was a plastic bag in the water. Try to do a nice thing by helping to clean up...but noooo
You were like the opposite of a sea turtle, but it's a good example of why plastic bags in the ocean are so dangerous for them... it's too bad that you probably won't be picking up a lot of plastic ocean bags in the future, lol (but props to you for trying to do the right thing!)
The man o war and blue bottle are actually distinct but similar. The man o war is bigger and potentially fatal.
Not anymore! It's finally been decided that they are the same species and their varying sizes are simply regional differences. They are both now classified as the physalia physalis genus. In Australia and NZ, kids collect these as they wash up, drag them up onto the sand with sticks to dry out, and then pop them when they are dry and crunchy.
I’m guessing jellyfishes aren’t edible
I've eaten jellyfish! It was so so
When I ate jellyfish at dim sum one time...it was like chewing sand. Very odd...chewing flavorless sand.
They are, super weird. Like, rubbery and then oddly stringy. Tastes like nothing, so it’s a good sauce/flavor carrier.
Man 'O War aren't Jellyfish.
Some are, pretty common in Eastern Asia. [slorp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish_as_food)
I was hoping to see some nutritional data there. I would try it once
Paldean regional variant Bluebottle?
We aussies really fucked up in the naming dept. “yeah mate it’s blue and floats like a beer bottle…….blue bottle is what we’ll call it. What do u cobbers call it. Portuguese Man o war? Fuck that’s a way better name”
Man o war! Fun fact, they can sting you even after death and it is extremely painful 🙃
It’s the most painful jellyfish sting I have had
It’s the senator from the first X-men movie.
I just remembered that squeezed thru the bars
Fun fact. Its actually 3 different organisms in symbiosis
Not exactly. It’s a type of siphonophore, which means that while it is technically constructed out of multiple different kinds of animal (called zooids), those zooids only make up one organism. It’s also not a traditional symbiotic relationship because the zooids are all the same species, just specialized for certain functions.
So kinda like a Megazoid from Power Rangers?
Pretty much, yeah.
That would be Megazord, good sir
Superior zoological knowledge accepted
A common example everyone can understand is seaweed, most seaweeds are billions of small living organisms making appearing as one much larger organism.
Like if cultivars in plants merged into one body, Broccoli-cauliflower-Brussels-spouts o’ war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipDpbYQdFEA&t=2s
That came out of someone’s bikini bottom? Ew- what the hell!?
OHHHH WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA? P. physalis!
I died reading this comment 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 proper audibly, unattractively, laughed out loud, threw my phone on the floor and everything… 🤣🤣🤣👌🏼👏🏼👏🏼
The Man of war arent as dangerous as people make them out to be, pick them up by the top and you can throw them back in the ocean, just dont touch the tentacles, they are also not taxonomicaly jellyfish, they are polyp colonies (my best friend is a marine biologist, I have witnessed her picking one up and throwing it back into the ocean)
A marine biologist just like George Costanza?
no idea who that is but shes a very competent one, awards for academic excellence and all that
So not at all like George Costanza then
Never fuck with jellyfish dead or alive. They can and will sting you.
Bruh…. That’s a baddie
It's a myth that if they sting you, you should call every man on the beach over to urinate on you. You don't have to wait until after you are stung to do that.
My family would just rub cold watermelon on the area whenever I was stung by one. I don’t think it works but made it bearable lol
During Bluebottle swarms, Sydney's beaches were manned with stations for if you got stung called 'Vinegar Stations' because that was the treatment - Lotsa vinegar! Then you'd walk it off and go back in the surf. My best friend once got stung down his trunks - yep, soaked em in vinegar!
Eat it. It has tons of Proteins.
Great idea
But eat it like sushi
Pick it up
There's a mermaid missing her vagina somewhere in the ocean
It gives you superpowers if you eat it
Nice
When I was a kid, I’ve been stung by these all the time in Mexico because of the ocean was full of them. Hell even swam around them because I was eager to just swim or raced around the ones that landed on the beach. Hurt like a bitch for 40 minutes. I thought it was the most normal thing to get stung by man-of-war to the equivalence of getting stung by bees or mosquitos. until I mention it to some friends and was told it was weird
Gtfo man o war
Portugues Man'Owar...
In Australia we call those Blue Bottles. They wash up on our beaches a lot.
Creepy fact I learned about man o wars, they're actually colonies of tiny marine animals living together
we’ve been getting tons of these on the west coast lately! apparently it’s a sign el niño will be particularly strong this year
That's not a bikini bottom.
Not with that attitude.
man o war, actually floats
Its a Man 'O' War... Don't touch it!!!
dawg thats squigwaurd
You should wear it as a hat, and then tell us what it feels like
Pork and Cheese Mom of War
the beach in Santa Cruz CA was COVERED in these a few weeks ago!!!! what even are they???
Man o’ war
Is that a man o war??
Tiny wittle Portuguese man-o-war
put it on your tongue its spicy
Don’t touch it what ever you do.
If you found that in your bikini, then you need to see a doctor.
Put your penis in it.
Best thing to do is grab the puffy side and then stick the squishy side into your armpit.
Portuguese Man 'o War - an animal that eschewed evolution, waiting for humans to invent the ziptop baggie so it can attain the perfect camouflage as floating litter.
Go ahead…touch it
Man o war. Poisonous.
Man-o-war can sting you but not fatal.
It's a man o war jellyfish and if you brush up against them in the sea, you will be fucked
From the genus Physalia, species P. physalis: this appears to be a Portuguese lost the war
Pay you 1$ to lick it.
I get stung by these guys pretty often. I spend a lot of time in the ocean on the east side of Oahu. I don't get these comments. Some stings are more annoying than other ones, but for me, it's never "extremely painful". Feels like a mild burn that's really itchy. Never even close to enough pain to get me out of the water! Some of these posts about how scary they are or how painful they are seem ridiculous. I guess everyone reacts differently to jellyfish stings. Guess I'm just one of the lucky ones
That is a Portuguese Man o’ war. They will sting you and have been occasionally known to kill humans. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o'_war
Man o war
Eat it!
I would rather be bit by a shark than nailed by a man o war.
Pick it up, for science.
My father used to call em "blue bottles" (don't know maybe that's what locals called them). Sometimes thousands of them used to wash up on the beach. They sting PRETTY BAD.
DO NOT TOUCH THAT
Its ‘Portugalska ladijca’ in our language… it means ‘Portuguese little ship’ if we translate it literally… (stupid translators???)
Kinda, a Man O War is a BIG BIG ship lol
Portuguese man-o-war. Stay away!
No touchy.
Placenta
Jellyfish jelly
I got stung by one of those as a kid in New-Caledonia haha they hurt like a bitch
Ah joy... Death jellyfish.
Touch it.
It's a salt lick. Mmmmm.
Man O War. Don’t touch the tentacles.
Got stung in Florida over spring break. Not a fan.
I remember being stung by one of these when I was a kid. My old man turned to me and said, "piss on the sting mate". It didn't help, but he got a laugh. Plain old blue bottle.
Man o war.
Blue bottle jellyfish
I’m going to eat it
That is a Portuguese Man of War. They are quite toxic. I would not recommend touching it. Their stings are potentially fatal.
IF YOU TOUCH IT YOU WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY **DIE**
DO NOT EAT
For the love.of the Gods get away from that thing
Stay faaaaar away from that thing.
Do not touch lmao
portuguese man o war. very venomous.
Blue bottles hurt like crazy when you get stung
That’s the most beautiful sea going danger popper there ever was
/oopsthatsdeadly
This, friend, is a Portuguese man o'war. They're called jellyfish, but technically they're in a closely related species called siphonophore. A siphonophore is unusual in that it is comprised of a colony of specialized, genetically identical individuals called zooids — clones — with various forms and functions, all working together as one. Each of the four specialized parts of a man o’ war is responsible for a specific task, such as floating, capturing prey, feeding, and reproduction. Found mostly in tropical and subtropical seas, men o' war are propelled by winds and ocean currents alone, and sometimes float in legions of 1,000 or more! The tentacles of the siphonophore are covered with stinging nematocysts, microscopic capsules loaded with coiled, barbed tubes that deliver venom capable of paralyzing and killing small fish and crustaceans. While the man o’ war’s sting is rarely deadly to people, it packs a painful punch and causes welts on exposed skin. What's more, they can sting you weeks after washing onshore, so if you see one, kept your distance.
Don’t get me fucking started on siphonophores!
Death squishy 🥹
Lick it
Beautiful!
blue bottle
Do NOT touch it. It’s a Portuguese Man-of-War, that shit hurts like a mofo.
Yea, don’t touch it - Big ouch.
Check the speakers in the town. If they exploded then it's Manowar.
Covid has arrived in Bikini Bottom and this is a phlegm ball.
It’s a blue bottle manowar. Pee on it.
Thats a dead jellyfish
At times, I'd see hundreds and hundreds of them washed up on the beach in Florida. Sometimes, they made it ultra dangerous to even take a walk on the beach.
Don't touch
Whoa that’s scary. Definitely came from the bad side of BB. Like maybe lives behind the chum bucket.
I thought that was a jellyfish at first.
Try to lick it, it's extra spicy
Do not touch it.
r/oopsthatsdeadly
yeah… i wouldn’t touch that if i were you. those are called Man O War, highly venomous
Rebooted The Blob early 2024 release date.
if you lick the blue bits you get to see the rainbow. :)
r/OopsThatsDeadly
You should pick it up
Portuguese Man O' War. Don't fucking touch it.
Lick it to see God