A summer beach day was interrupted Wednesday, as Wallace Sands Beach in Rye, NH was closed and five people taken to the hospital after a jellyfish stung more than 100 swimmers.
At two in the afternoon, emergency crews from surrounding seacoast towns responded to complaints of swimmers that they were being stung in the water. Swimmers said that the stings felt similar to bee stings; there were no serious injuries. The culprit? A monstrous jellyfish.
“It was as big as a turkey platter. The thing was probably fifty pounds,” said beach park manager Ken Loughlin. The jellyfish, though dead, had been stinging swimmers. According to local aquarist Robert Royer, the barbed tentacles of such a jellyfish can continue to sting even after the jellyfish is killed.
This particular jellyfish was particularly large. Royer, identifying the species as a Lion’s Mane jellyfish and expressed surprise at the size of the creature. “That’s the largest we have around here,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of them getting 50 pounds, though.” Lion’s Mane jellyfish have tentacles that can get up to 100 feet long.
This sight was not expected by many beach-goers during the day. Alicia Bennett and her three small children, all of Hampstead, N.H., had come to Wallis Sands to swim, but had other thoughts after seeing the jellyfish. Bennett watched all her children run out of the water at the same time. “They were terrified,” she said.
The beach was closed and reopened Thursday, and the park became a temporary treatment center after the sighting. Victims were treated in the bathhouse by emergency crews from many surrounding seacoast towns. Medical responders were initially afraid of severe allergic reactions to the stings, and five children were taken to the hospital to be treated further. Hospital officials reported no serious injuries.
No comments:
Post a Comment