Isle jellyfish invasion
might not be a first

Similar problems have been
reported before, but similarities
would take time to prove

A marine biologist who has studied tiny marine organisms that sting ocean swimmers in New York and New Zealand says she is intrigued that there is now a similar problem at Keehi Lagoon.

Even if the tiny jellyfish in Keehi Lagoon are not the same ones she blames for so-called "sea-bather's eruption" on swimmers in New Zealand, "the (stinging) mechanism is the same" for all jellyfish and the effects on people could be similar, said Anita Freudenthal, retired chief of marine ecology for the Nassau County (N.Y.) Health Department.

"One of the criteria of (jellyfish) is that you have stinging cells, and a toxin is literally injected into a person. Just as with bee stings or spider bites, there are some people who are more allergic and some not as allergic," Freudenthal said yesterday in a phone interview from New York.

Oahu canoe racing associations have moved all regattas planned for Keehi Lagoon to other locations until their memberships feel safe using it again.

Though several canoe clubs continue to practice as usual at Keehi, coaches and members said yesterday they now avoid getting into the water because some paddlers were stung by something in the water at the May 29 and June 5 regattas.

"For the safety of the paddlers, I think it's best to hold the regattas somewhere else," 'Alapa Hoe head coach Sheila Sanford said. However, none of her club's paddlers have stopped attending practice regularly because of sting concerns, she said.

Figuring out exactly what marine organism is causing problems for people takes time, agreed Freudenthal and Swiss jellyfish expert Peter Schuchert of the Museum of Natural History in Geneva, who responded to questions via e-mail.

Whether the hydromedusae jellyfish that have been bugging New Zealand swimmers are the same as those at Keehi will require study of the animals' life cycle, which includes both attached and free-swimming stages, Schuchert said.

Freudenthal regularly sampled Long Island ocean water and took reports from hundreds of swimmers between 1975 and 1990 before concluding in an Aug. 19, 1993, New England Journal of Medicine article that the larvae of a sea anemone were repeatedly causing sea-bather's eruption for swimmers on Long Island beaches.

Freudenthal will use data gathered in Auckland, New Zealand, between 1996 and 2004 for an as-yet-unpublished paper that concludes that hydromedusae jellyfish are causing the problems there.

Schuchert said it is possible that the New Zealand jellyfish and Keehi jellyfish are the same, based on their similarities, but much work would have to be done to prove it.

Meanwhile, Andrew Rossiter, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, said he can personally verify that the jellyfish found in Keehi Lagoon might be small but "do pack a punch."

After putting some of the pinhead-size jellyfish on his arm Wednesday, Rossiter said, "I can confirm that those little hydromedusae do sting."