Sea Creatures that Sting

Yesterday, I had a very interesting first experience: I was stung by a venomous creature in the waters of Higashi.

During the summer, groups of students from two villages on the mainland of Japan come to Higashi to participate in an exchange program of sorts. While only lasting for a few days, one of those days is always spent at the beach. The kids swim, canoe, snorkel, and ride a banana boat (seen below). It's really great fun.

Picture is NOT of the actual exchange students, sadly.

So there I was, snorkeling in the water, making sure the kids didn't venture too far from shore, when it happened. I felt the sting on my face first. I went to swat at whatever it was, which only got me stung on the arm as well. Not realizing what was going on, my constant movement only served to get me stung in a few more places. It wasn't until I got stung from my right chest to my right shoulder blade that I realized I was in the grasp of jellyfish (actually, what stung me isn't technically a jellyfish, rather four independent creatures living symbiotically that resemble a jellyfish). This one, to be exact:

In Japanese, it's called カツオノエボシ (katsuo no eboshi). In English, it's known as a Portuguese Man of War.

I started backing up only to notice the body of the thing trailing after me, the stingers still attached to my arm. Luckily, I had a pair of goggles with me, so I swung them to sever the connection. The stingers that were left over in my arm, while very painful, upon later inspection were actually quite pretty. The blue of the stingers was so bright it was hard not to be a little amazed at the color.

A kind fellow at the board of education pulled the stingers from my arm. Another guy came over to help, only to pull the stingers off of me and get them all over his own finger (they stung, he said). We learned a valuable lesson, too. And that is that vinegar should NOT be used for a Man of War sting. Cold water or sea water is the best remedy. Given the nature of the poison of the Man of War, vinegar only serves to make the pain worse, or in some cases cause increased swelling.

The pain lessened quickly but I could still feel it about an hour later. A few hours later I didn't notice anything at all. Today, there are some red marks where the stingers were, but nothing serious.

I have always been told that there are jellyfish (or things like it) in the ocean near Higashi, but this was my first run in. I'm just thankful I didn't run into one of these suckers. My day would have very likely been over, at best.