It never fails.  We finally hit green flag, the kiddies are in school, the water is still warm, the air is warm (OK HOT), and THEY show up.  You know, my favorite sea creatures.  Stingus De Mare.  Posideon's Sinus Infection. The Gooey Globs. The Pokey Annoyance.  The Oceanic Plague.....Otherwise, more commonly known as the Jellyfish.

Yes, folks that right, they came in over night.  They spent yesterday down on the beaches in Okaloosa county, and opting for a perfect beach, they've come to Navarre, en masse. (As of 11:00am the jellies are gone in any great numbers.)

Really, I don't HATE any creature.  I'm sure they have some great purpose in the food chain, some horrific thing would happen to the planet should they go missing.  I mean, what would dolphins have on their peanut butter sanwhiches if the jellyfish disappeared?  What would SpongeBob and Patrick chase with nets?  How would the stockholders of the BoilEase company put food on their table?  What would men poke with sticks on the beach? So much rides on this critters very existance!  All hail the jellyfish!

In all honesty folks, they are a true pain in the, well, everywhere.  The common sea nettle is just an annoyance.  The stingers can float around sans the main jelly and continue to fire/sting for days.  Scooping them out of the ocean is pointless.  It's like taking one fire ant out of a mound so the kids can play in the yard.  Burrying the "body" doesn't do any good either.  The bugger can continue to sting days after it's dead, as long as it's moist.  So kiddies digging in the sand ram into stingers.  So inform guests just to leave them alone.

I do get a kick out of the harder portion of the jellyfish bell/head.  When the jellyfish dies, this portion continues to float around the surf until it breaks down or washes ashore.  I remember the first year we lived here, there was a mass natural die off that happened to be followed by sea winds which washed thousands of these caps ashore.  It looked like a cargo ship carrying silcone breast implants capsized off shore, allowing the contents to wash up on the beach.  It was funny and pretty all at the same time.  This portion of the jelly does NOT sting.

If you've never seen how a jellyfish reproduces, I highly advise watching this >>>     It's a very intersting process, and explains why there are so darn many of them.

That explained, what do you do about stings?
Well there are several ways.  FIRST, use sand to rub the area that was stung to help remove any more stinging bits.  This will NOT help with the barbs that have already been injected into the skin, which continue to fire and fire and fire an irritating fluid into your epidermis.  You then have several options.  Hopefully you brought one of them to the beach. 
*Vingegar sprayed on the area does work, but only for about 20 minutes.
*Peeing on it, yes, it does work, but not only is it icky, but it doesn't work for long.  Plus, well, unless you're realllly talented or have a good friend, go with another option.
*Over the counter jellyfish sting aids.  These work, but are hard to find.  They are usually in the pharmacy area of the local Walgreens, CVS etc.  You may have to ask the pharmacist for them. (also benzocaine)
*Over the counter sunBURN sprays with Lidocaine.  This only works for about an hour.
*My PERSONAL favorite is BoilEase, found in the Hemmeroid section of ANY grocery/pharmacy/big box store.  It is 20% Benzocaine so it cannot be used by those allergic to that family of meds.  This works for hours and is directly applied to only the area of the sting.  Don't worry you won't miss it, it will be a red line, usually jagged that follows where the tentical brushed you.  If you can't find BoilEase, baby teething gel works too, which is also 20% Benzocaine.

"But it bother's me in my suit!" Yes, I hear you.  Sigh.  Dastardly buggers.  Like I said the sting can go on without the main jellyfish. So if a tentical breaks off and goes Rouge it can wash onto and INTO anywhere water goes.  ANYWHERE.

So with that happy thought, ENJOY the beach everyone!

OH and GO OUT AND VOTE TODAY !  There are NON partisan issues on the ballot today too, so if you are registered, exercise your privalage.  Hey, and get a free sticker to boot!