Dozens of highly venomous Portuguese Man O' War have washed up on a beach in South Carolina.
The blue jellyfish-like creatures are known to have an excruciatingly painful sting which can, in rare cases, be fatal to humans.
The Shore Beach Patrol Service on Hilton Head Island sent out a warning to beachgoers in a post on Facebook: "[Portuguese Man O' War] are very colorful creatures, but DO NOT TOUCH THEM! Their sting is extremely painful, and they will still sting on the beach [after they have washed up]!"
We’ve seen dozens of Portuguese Man O’ War washed up on the beach today. They are very colorful creatures, but DO NOT TOUCH THEM! Their sting is extremely painful, and they will still sting on...
"I got stung by a Portuguese Man of War a number of years ago," said one user. "It was so very painful."
The jellyfish-like creatures actually belong to a group of marine animals called the siphonophores. These species are unusual because each individual is not technically a single organism.
Rather, they consist of a colony of genetically identical clones, each of which is specialized to carry out a particular function. The National Ocean Service (NOAA) splits these into four distinct categories: floating, capturing prey, feeding and reproducing.
Portuguese Man O' War were named after their distinctive, sail-shaped floats which are said to resemble an 18th-century Portuguese warship. These floats can be blue, purple or pink, and rise up to six inches above the waterline, like a small waterborne balloon.
Underneath the water line, their long strands of tentacles and polyps grow to an average of 30 feet, although some have been known to extend beyond 100 feet.
The tentacles are armed with microscopic stinging capsules, called nematocysts, which are loaded with barbed tubes of venom.
The sting is rarely deadly to people, but the pain is said to be excruciating and can last for hours. One Twitter user described the pain as "kind of like hovering your hand above a candle but not being able to move it away."
kind of like hovering your hand above a candle but not being able to move it away. (except not just the hand but everywhere else it also stung). then everything became kind of paralyzed. the next day it just felt like the area got punched hard. no pain after 2 days, just marks
— William Falcon ⚡️ (@_willfalcon) December 22, 2021
Even after they have washed ashore, these creatures can still pack a powerful punch due to the venom-loaded stinging capsules on their tentacles.
Portuguese Man O' War spend most of their time in tropical and subtropical waters, although they can be found in every ocean. They rely entirely on the wind and ocean currents to move around, but why they have washed up in South Carolina now is unclear.
"Usually we'll see these or other jellyfish show up in numbers when there have been strong storms offshore, but I don't know of any recent offshore storms," Daniel Season, a research scientist with the Marine Resources Institute, told FOX Weather.
"It also is less common to see them in large numbers in the winter, but certainly not unheard of."
The Shore Beach Service patrollers are currently gathering as many of the creatures as they can and burying them under the sand to prevent anyone stepping on them.
If you are unlucky enough to be stung by one of the animals, the Shore Beach Service has some recommendations: "Advice on a remedy is varied, but most agreed to soak in hot water and seek further medical attention."
Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about marine animals? Let us know via nature@newsweek.com.
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Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
