Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Let's wade out into the sea

What do we have here? JELLYFISH!!! Be careful!

No bones. No brains. But what a sting! The sting of some "jellies", can be deadly. Others are harmless to humans. They look like blobs when washed up on the beach. But in the water jellies are graceful. They range in size from about 1 inch to 200 feet long.

Jelly fish are not fish at all. They are invertebrates, relatives of corals and sea anemones. A jelly has no head, brain, heart, eyes, nor ears. It has no bones. But that's no problem! To capture prey for food, jellies have a net of tentacles that contain poisonous, stinging cells. When the tentacles brush against prey (or a person's leg), thousands of tiny stinging cells explode, launching barbed stingers, and poison into the victim. Where there's water -from icy polar seas to tropical Pacific shores-- there are jellies. Scientists estimate there may be 2,000 species of jellyfish.
DON'T GET STUNG!
A jellyfish fires its poison whenever its tentacles brush against an object. In humans the poison usually causes a sharp, burning sensation that may last from minutes to hours.
If you get stung: Wash the wound with vinegar or rubbing alcohol. Or sprinkle meat tenderizer or put a baking soda and water paste on the sting. Don't rinse with water, which could release more poison.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCVADKwqwnc&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTXinF8ZVCo

4 comments:

Lulu said...

ok

In the wine country said...

ronna's getting good .. she did this without my help.
the links and all.
and yes there's more to come, Sandy said 3 to 5, and Ronna loves the sea..

Pedaling said...

when we were in monterey this last spring, we saw more jellyfish than i had ever seen before.
i'm sure it had to do with global warming or something. hehe

sandyseashells said...

Jellyfish-- I've seen jellyfish in Mexico at certain times of the year. They were small, but could sting you. Then when I went to disney world this summer While waiting in line (for the "nemo, Turtle show", which was very fun by the way.) They had real jellyfish in a big aquariuam. Anyway, I stood there & watch them, & was so amazed by the different colors & types, I felt like I was looking at something from a different planet. If they didn't sting us, I would love to just float around with them, and since they have no brains, "just chill". Not have to think about anything. Nice-