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Phuket swimmers get jellyfish warning

Phuket swimmers get jellyfish warning

The Phuket Lifeguard Service are warning swimmers after bluebottle jellyfish have been found on western beaches and spotted along Patong Beach on Thursday.

The office posted on Facebook: “Found some bluebottles at Patong Beach and Nai Yang Beach. Swim safe everyone.”
The bluebottle is also known as the Portuguese man o’ war and are common off Phuket’s west coast during the monsoon season. The jellyfish are easily broken up by the southwest swell but their little stingers still float in the water causing irritation.

Phuket swimmers get jellyfish warning

Photos courtesy of the Phuket Lifeguard Service
Though rarely deadly, a bluebottle sting might be dangerous to children, elderly people, asthmatics and people with allergies, as it can cause fever, shock and respiratory distress.
Signs and symptoms from an acute sting can include searing pain, usually with a single raised white welt with a prominent beading effect. Multiple welts may occur with mass stinging as the tentacle drags across your skin.

Phuket swimmers get jellyfish warning

Photos courtesy of the Phuket Lifeguard Service
Bluebottles are not technically a jellyfish but a siphonophore; a colony of thousands of tiny stinging jellyfish clumped together into one floating entity. You can avoid their stings by wearing a “stinger suit” made from Lycra or a similar material that prevents the stingers from scraping over skin. 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/phuket-lifeguards-warn-about-blue-bottles

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