Portuguese Man of War

Greetings everyone @eyeofthemind here. I’m getting right into it. Recently I found myself in the state of Florida. The weather was cooler than usual but I was itching to take a dip in the ocean and get some salt water in my hair. There, on the shores of the Atlantic, to my surprise I saw dozens of Portuguese Man of War.

These are some of the most venomous creatures to cruise the oceans. I leave out the word ‘jellyfish’ because actually, they are not jellyfish. They are classified as a siphonophore.

A siphonophore is a not a singular organism but a colonial organism made up of other animals of the same species. They therefore cannot survive alone but have to work together.

The Portuguese Man of War is said to have gotten its’ name from the old Portuguese War ships. If you look at the top, they can be likened to the sails on the large sailing vessels.

Image Source

I find these creatures amazing. But if you see one don’t you dare touch it. Even if it is dead, it can still cause pain. The floating tentacles cause severe pain for hours and in some rare cases may cause death.

If you are stung by one of these, it’s not the end of the world…necessarily ;)
The first thing you should do is:
-rinse of the area with salt water-
-soak the area in an ammonia and water solution-
-use shaving cream and shave the area, rinsing the blade each time-
-you can also try using a hot pack to speed of the breakdown of toxins-

Up until I found these dozens of Man of War on the beach I had never seen one in person. I'm glad that the first time was from a distance. Although, these creatures are beautiful and intriguing, I'm ok with admiring them from a safe distance :)

As always, thank you for stopping by. If you enjoyed this post feel free to upvote and follow @eyeofthemind. Until next time everyone, be well, be happy, be patient.

as per usual I was traveling with my handy Canon Rebel xs and 60mm macro lens