The Portuguese man-of-war is a floating hydrozoan. They are especially common in the warm waters of the Sargasso Sea. Generally, these colonies live in warm tropical and subtropical water such as along the Florida Keys and Atlantic coast, the Gulf Stream, the Gulf of Mexico, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and other warm areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Portuguese man-of-war floats on the surface of tropical, marine waters. It floats on or near the surface of the water. All rights reserved.This species has been found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, and the Sargasso Sea. A good idea is to bring a spray bottle of white vinegar with you to the beach, that way you're always prepared.Ĭopyright 2015 WMBF News. Once the tentacles are off, you need to neutralize the venom. Then you can scrape the tentacles off by using the back of a fork, knife, stick, anything that is not exposed skin. Do not use fresh water, urine, or baking soda, because that will cause the tentacles to swell and keep stinging you. Lark recommends using KY Jelly to do this because it won't irritate the Man o' War. If you do get stung, the main thing to do immediately is to remove the tentacles from your body. So if you see that coming onto the beach, chances are some Man of Wars might be close behind.' That kind of seaweed is where the Man o' Wars tend to stick by. And that's the seaweed that's kind of a light tan brown color,' warns Dr. 'One of the clues that you need to keep an eye out for Portuguese Man o' War in the water is if you see Sargasso seaweed blowing up on the beach. And the Gulf Stream would tend to push them north. In order to get to our coast, they would need to cross the Gulf Stream. However, he also says it's a little reassuring that they are showing up in North Carolina.

Lark says with the recent reports, we should be on alert.

But if your reaction is any more severe than that, you need to get to a doctor right away.ĭr. If you have some minor issues with swelling and itching, Benadryl will help. And remember, if you see a tentacle or part of a Man o' War on the beach, even if it's been there for days, it can still sting you. So if you get stung, you need to get help from the beach patrol or a life guard right away. 'So people will frequently will pick them up while they're still on the water and the tentacles will wrap around your arm and sting you.'Ī sting from a Man of War feels like the equivalent of having a hundred bee stings at once. 'A lot of times children playing in the water, or even adults, mistake it for a balloon or some kind of toy that a kid let float away,' says Dr. And that's one of the main reasons why Portuguese Man o' Wars are so dangerous in shallow waters. When that happens, they retract their tentacles, which concentrates that sting into one powerful punch. A weather phenomenon, like currents or wind, pushed them there. So when we have reports of them closer to the coast, it's not like they are closing in with the intention to attack you. Lark says it's common to find them out in the calmer ocean waters where there is room for their tentacles to reach down 30 to 80 feet. The creatures all band together to make a colony, known as the Portuguese Man o' War.ĭr. They're in a separate category of their own. Jarratt Lark with Grand Strand Medical Center says these are not 'real' jellyfish. The more you know about these jelly fish like creatures, the better you can protect yourself.ĭr. MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Doctors are warning beach-goers and swimmers to be on alert for Portuguese Man o' Wars as more sightings are being reported in North Carolina.

Portuguese man of war myrtle beach