‘It really stings’: Surf City, Wilmington-area officials caution beachgoers of jellyfish
WILMINGTON, NC (STARNEWS) — With a nickname of “floating terror,” the Portuguese man o’ war and its tentacles are showing beachgoers that sharks and rip currents are not the only things they should watch out for while swimming in the ocean for Labor Day weekend.
In August, the Surf City Fire Department confirmed a sighting for the siphonophore (which resembles a jellyfish). One visitor was transported to the hospital by EMS workers for treatment. The tentacles have coiled stingers with powerful and painful toxin. Fire Chief Allen Wilson said people were also stung while swimming, but the species was unknown.
“Unless you see it, you don’t know,” Wilson said. “They weren’t calling 911, but they were alerting our ocean rescue staff that were stung saying ‘it really stings, what do I need to do?'”
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