Jellyfish

Went to the beach at South Queenserry and me and the dogs were having a great time in the water until I noticed all the jellyfish on the beach

There were about a dozen huge pink and purple ones. very psychedelic - looked a bit like they had been tie-dyed. They were all at leat 18 inches in diameter.

Never seen them before and had no idea whether they were poisonous or not but I decided not to take the risk, particularly with the dogs as we were miles away from the car.

Anyone any idea what they were? I've tried googling but can't see anything exactly the same. Just wish I had remembered that I had my phone with me so could've taken some photos of them

at troon beach the last couple of times there have been loads of dead jellyfish, mad colours
gross when i stood on one barefoot, feels exactly like you imagine it would
thankfully the dogs sniffed, peed on them then ignored them
dunno what they were or why so many

when the waters are warmer and the weather better you get an increase on jellyfish and they also increase in size. This might be why there are so many.

There are some that are stingers but couldnt tell you which - you could google the marine wildlife sites to work out what type they were

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Jelly.htm

Any help F?

The weren't Portuguese man o war were they???

Portuguese-men-of-war don't get to the UK do they? I was a coast guard in the UK (way way way way back), and we did learn about them, but were told they never came into british coast waters....

If they did look like Portuguese-men-of-war you really need to alert the local coastguard as these are really very dangerous!!!!!

think they did last year or year before due to warm currents or something ???

I'm back at my parents just now and my friend took her 1 year old to Gullane beach a couple of weeks ago and she said there were loads! She couldn't let little Kayden anywhere near the water just incase! I do wonder what they were though... You had any luck finding out?

S xoxox

Yes they have been found down south on numerous occasions, devon, cornwall e.t.c. so you never know, it's not impossible. I just knew they were pink and purple after watching a documentary lol so they sprung to mind but i'm not clued up on jellyfish as a species, although the man o war technically isn't, I think?

wow... I guess it's the climate change...

Anyway, my brain is creaking as it was a while ago.... but if you have seen a Portuguese man o war on the beach you need to:
- inform the coastguard
- realize that even when dead they still contain the venom and it can still really hurt for a few days (this is in humans)
- if you've been stung: the best remedy is salt water: normal water or vinegar(often used to sooth normal jellyfish stings) will make it worse
- keep dogs away from the body and the tentacles! In humans it hurts like h*ll... and in extreme cases can lead to respiratory problems.... hate to thing what it would do to a dog...

but maybe it's better to google... as I said.... my info is from way back when.....