The Jelly's are here!

 Well its that time again and it looks like its gonna be a jellious season, as jellyfish begin to swarm our waters! Although we have a few different varieties of jellyfish basically have 2 varieties are of   concern to spearfishing- The Portuguese Man-o-War and the Moon Jellyfish, or as I prefer to call them the "Pink Plates".

Like most stings everyone reacts differently to them, some spearo's are hypersensitive to to any jellyfish sting, and then some speara's get covered in tentacles with hardly a reactio...that said, everyone should use caution when in the water while spearfishing especially our warm Miami waters...read on.







Of these 2 jellyfish the one that we have to be most watchful of is the Portuguese Man-o-War, this specimen which is actually a invertebrate floats on top of the water, is usually iridescent blueish/pink and has long tentacles- some up to 2 feet long- hanging below the surface...the sting from these F*^%er's can be intensely painful, in fact I've never seen anyone "brush off" one of their stings.  Extreme caution should be used when spearfishing, ESPECIALLY on the ascent, as these nasty critters are always floating on the surface!   

The other is the "Pink Plate" which looks like a big sunflower and are usually in swarms, these guys can cause a pretty painful sting (again depending on how sensitive you may be) but not nearly as bad as the PMOW above.

The part of the jellyfish that stings you while spearfishing are the tentacles, which carry  nematocysts, which in turn penetrate the skin, and release the harmful, stinging toxin.  So whats are you to do while in the water spearfishing?  First when you are spearfishing be it in the Florida Keys, Miami, Bahamas or any place else wear a rashguard, 1mm or any other barrier protection, also keep your eyes open for jellyfish, as already mentioned, ESPECIALLY on the ascent.  Moon jellys you can move our of your way, BUT careful not to touch exposed skin with your glove (or any other spearfishing gear including your wetsuit), as the nemotacysts can attach to your glove and sting you later- This is especially important when you are taking off your dive mask-BE CAREFUL! 

If you are buddy diving (which you should be) don't trail too close behind your bud as she pushing jellies can often sting you as the nemo's are released in the water as well.  If you are stung by a jelly, add hot water to the sting, or use one of the many jelly sting remedies, ammonia or vinegar helps as well...or try urine, yep urine-any of these will neutralize the toxins, again soeme working better than others depending on the individual.  Finally if you are hypersensitive to jellyfish stings you should (aside from the Jellyfish first aid just mentioned) carry an Epinephrine pen on board, and have a clear plan of action if stung during a spearfishing outing...be safe out there and watch them critters!



Till next spearfishing report, tight bands, straight shafts, and smooooooooth triggers!

Tone

http://www.settingsteelspeargear.com