Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Ocean Watch
By Susan Scott
Monday, November 27, 2000
Last week, "Honolulu Lite" columnist Charlie Memminger wrote that he is amazed people can predict exactly which days box jellyfish will invade Hawaii's leeward beaches. "Jellyfish are apparently a lot more organized than people think," he wrote. "It's as if the jellyfish have chartered a plane and will be arriving ... at 3:57 p.m. Meet them on the tarmac with tiny leis." Isle jellyfish
always arrive
on scheduleWell, we don't exactly greet these squishy visitors with flowers, but workers here do prepare for their arrival. Lifeguards top off their vinegar bottles, medical researchers tote pain-relieving sprays to the beach, and UH scientists collect hundreds of the creatures for laboratory study. An Australian specialist is also currently in Hawaii examining the life cycle of our box jellyfish.
None of these people have to guess when and where to perform their tasks because as Charlie noted, our box jellyfish are amazingly organized. They arrive at the same time in the same place, month after month, year after year.
This is not standard jellyfish behavior. Hawaii is the only place in the world where these creatures have such a fixed schedule.
No one knows if this species of jellyfish, Carybdea alata, is native to the islands or was brought here accidentally, such as in ships' ballast waters. We do know, however, that box jellyfish have been arriving on Hawaii shores at least since 1906. The next report was in 1951 when a swarm of them appeared on Waikiki Beach.
That's about all anyone heard about the creatures until the late 1980s when they started showing up repeatedly in masses.
By the early 1990s, lifeguards and several swimmers noticed that box jellyfish were arriving on a regular basis along parts of the leeward shore. By examining influx dates, they discovered that the jellyfish appear on the ninth or 10th days after a full moon.
One theory about the reason for these recurring trips to Oahu's leeward shores is that the jellyfish are gathering together on this lunar cycle to spawn. Why this assemblage is so obvious here and nowhere else in the world is not known.
There is some good news about our box jellyfish: No one has died from a sting here. The stings hurt, and a few people get sick, but usually the pain and symptoms disappear in 10 minutes to eight hours.
The best medicine for stings is avoidance. Fortunately, this is easy since lifeguards send notices to the media and post warning signs at the beaches. Just stay out of leeward waters on the day or two the box jellyfish are here.
If you do come in contact with a box jellyfish, pour or spray vinegar on it. This inactivates stinging cells that may still be on the skin's surface.
Contrary to popular belief, neither meat tenderizer nor urine relieves the pain of jellyfish stings and might even do some harm.
Hot packs (or hot baths) make some people feel better. If that doesn't help, try ice.
The effect of heat and cold on these stings varies widely from person to person.
If the pain is unbearable or you feel nauseated, weak, dizzy or have trouble breathing, call 911 or go to the nearest lifeguard.
The biggest help we have in reducing box jellyfish stings in Hawaii comes from the creatures themselves.
Their punctuality is as good as a radio message. Jellies landing tomorrow. Clear the runways.
Our airplanes may not be on time around here, but our jellyfish are. Instead of giving them tiny leis, however, greet them with vinegar mai tais.
Marine science writer Susan Scott's Ocean Watch column
appears Mondays in the Star-Bulletin. Contact her at honu@aloha.net.
