God's Curse on Surfers
There are actually about 200 species of these critters out there & about there are about 70-75 known to sting humans or at least cause a bad reaction on contact. The sting can range from a mild, to excruciating, or even death and depends on which one of them stung you, your body’s personal reaction, your fitness, and what you did or will do to control the issue once you have been stung.
I’m not a Doctor, although I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night… That said, I wouldn’t tell you what works for you since I am not a medical authority. I can share what works for me when I’ve been stung though in the past. Piss does not work! Don’t be fooled by this “old school” remedy unless you are into that sort of thing, which means you likely wear leather chaps on a regular basis too. Your problems can’t be solved here my friend and don’t even consider touching my monkey!
What I do (for box jellyfish) is use simple vinegar. This won’t make it feel much better but will keep the stingers from continuing to sting. Then use room temperature fresh water after to lessen the pain and wash off loose tentacles (with something other than your fingers of course). Hot or cold water will cause the stingers to sting more and more so avoid that. I have heard that vinegar on Portuguese Man-O-War can cause the stingers to sting more and more so I would avoid this treatment on them. Just use water. Avoid other crap like meat tenderizer, pepper, fingernail polish remover, or other witch-doctor ideas. You’ll only complicate things for medical authorities to treat your issue. In all sting cases, get to a hospital immediately if you are starting to have other symptoms like shortness of breath, lymph node expansion, temporary loss of consciousness, etc. Even if you seem OK, still see a doctor at your earliest convenience.
There are calendars on this webpage that are helpful: www.808jellyfish.com
A Farmers Almanac is a much better source I believe or anything that will tell you when the full moon is going to occur. You will find that 808 Jellyfish doesn’t take into account the remnants of the Jellyfish such as broken tentacles. They come into shores and reefs to spawn and some don’t survive the mating ritual or contact with reef. Dead jellyfish are still bad. And broken tentacles are still lingering in the surf longer than most sources show on calendars. So pad the time you see if you use common sources.
The influx will occur anywhere between 7 & 11 days after the peak day of the full moon. I make a note on my summer calendars not to surf these days / about a third of the month in the summer which truly sucks if there is a good swell. But one sting and you will do the same. Trust me. Or you are an absolute idiot or a pro surfer… Hmmm.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the lifeguards are the good guys. They don’t want folks to get stung. But the tourist machine on island is not. It is not in Hawaii’s best interest to adequately warn visitors about the issue so hotels, travel folks, and the State Government do almost nothing to help or warn visitors. As a matter of fact, a stung tourist more than likely feeds that “tourist-machine” even more so I’d bet it in the best interest of the aforementioned for stings to occur. Nothing better than a tourist that pays for on-island medical services, over-the-counter remedies after a sting, confined to their hotel bed ordering room service, and stays off the roads while their rental car stays in the hotel parking lot. Makes you wonder doesn’t it.
