Little Boy Blue when "kissed" by a blue bottle?

Nobby's Beach in Newcastle - about 45 minutes from where we live - this is the main beach we go to

What do you know about the dangers of the oceans around Australia? Most people would say watch out for sharks... and jellyfish! Since moving to Australia, just over 2 years ago, we have yet to see any sharks or live jellyfish, except in aquariums.... until last week.

Before I begin to tell this story lets get some facts straight... shall we?

-> some jellyfish are bigger than a human and others are as small as a pinhead

-> people in some countries eat jellyfish

-> it is believed that jellyfish have been on Earth for

 millions of years, even before dinosaurs

-> jellyfish have no brains, but some kinds have eyes

-> jellyfish are mainly made up of water and protein

-> a group of jellyfish is called a smack, and a sudden appearance of a large group of jellyfish is call a 'bloom'

Now that you have a 'little' more information on jellyfish, lets talk about the one you see at the very top left of the image above... it is known around these parts as "the bluebottle jellyfish."

Also refered to as "Portuguese Man o War"
because it is said to look like a Portuguese
battleship with a sail.

Last week (most of) the kids had the opportunity to see a whole bunch of blue bottles at Nobby's Beach (a beach we frequent majority of the year). While Maileigh managed to hold one whilst walking on the beach, without being stung; Alex had the pleasure of shaking 'hands' with the tenticles of a young bluebottle whilst in the water.

Alex said that the bluebottle in this
 picture is an almost exact match. 

The float or body of the blue bottle measures
between 3 to 15 cm. The tentacles can
range in length from 15 cm up to 10 metres!

10 metres = approx. 32 feet by the way!!!

The Bluebottle or Portuguese Man-of-War is not a single animal but a colony of four kinds of highly modified individuals (polyps). The polyps are dependent on one another for survival. Bluebottles do differ from true jellyfish in several ways; the gas-filled float supports a number of specialised tentacles, which are actually members of a complicated colony. The individual members, or 'zooids', cooperate to form (what looks to us) lika one animal: a jellyfish. (Some zooids are specialised for stinging and capturing fishes and other marine animals whilst others are specialised for eating prey, and some are the "reproductive" members of the colony.)

Neat Fact: All bluebottle 'jellyfish' are hermaphrodites! (That's right folks no need to be looking for love for these guys/girls!!)

The blue bottles colour can range from a blue
to a pink hue, with a translucent body.

 It was explained to Wade, and the children, that the deepness of color indicates how toxic the venom is... apparently the one that 'kissed' Alexs' hand was very light colored indeed. 
Alex says that he put his hand in the water and he felt a sharp stinging. He pulled his hand up and began squeezing his fingers with his other hand. He wrapped his hand in his shirt as he looked down to see what had bite him. He saw the bluebottle in the water next to him. Wade immediately took him to the lifeguard who explained that the best thing they could do was put Alexs' hand in really hot water. (This is the one sort of sting that requires the venom to be heated to neutralize it; instead of vinegar like most other sorts of jellyfish stings.) The lifeguard warned them to keep an eye of Alexs' breathing and to go to the hospital if he had any trouble breathing or pain in his abdomen. 

A picture taken by Wade of one of the bluebottles that was at the beach

This is one of the few times I did not go with everyone to the beach. I was shocked and upset to find out this had happened, but very relieved to know that everyone was just fine. 

Note to everyone: If there are jellyfish about, stay OUT!!

The kids are so lucky that none of them recieved any serious attacks/stings like many other people have!!

Another pic taken by Wade that day at the beach

The day wasn't all pain and tears though...

 They did have the opportunity to go walking along in some of the more shallow parts where they found some neat starfish, snails, crabs and pretty rocks.