Jellyfish crash the wave-riding scene

Lauren Vane

With feet stretched out and bodies partially submerged in the lapping

waves, sunbathers crowded the sand near the water’s edge Wednesday

afternoon at 15th Street on Balboa Peninsula. Joining them in the

surf, and sometimes on the sand, were rarely seen black jellyfish.

For several days, the creatures have been leaving some beachgoers

with a sting stronger than sunburn.

Seventeen-year-old Yvonne Rodriguez of Anaheim came to Newport for

a day at the beach with friends and ended up the victim of a

jellyfish.

“I was, like, staying out of the water the whole time because of

the jellyfish, and the one time I go in,” Rodriguez said, turning

over her calf to reveal a red rash.

Tower 17 Lifeguard Mike Vanderburg, 20, of Newport Beach, treated

the sting with a squirt from a spray bottle filled with vinegar, an

antidote kept on hand at all lifeguard towers since the jellyfish

showed up several days ago.

Over the past few days, more than 100 people have been stung by

the jellyfish, said Lifeguard Watch Commander Eric Bauer. But with

temperatures reaching into the 90s inland, the jellyfish aren’t

enough of a reason to keep people out of the water. People see them

and avoid them, Bauer said.

The stinging pests are probably black jellyfish, said Orange Coast

College Marine Biology Professor Dennis Kelly.

Kelly said he had never seen this species of jellyfish; he’s only

read about them and seen photographs.

And it’s the tentacles, not the body of the jellyfish, that people

should watch out for.

“It’s not a really horrible sting,” Kelly said. “It’s sort of like

being stung by a wasp.”

The tentacles have stinging cells that shoot into the victim, he

said.

Despite a potentially painful outcome, the reddish purple

gelatinous creatures were drawing attention on the beach.

Children poked at the jellyfish with sticks and shells, careful to

back up when an oncoming wave washed the bodies further onshore.

Catou Greenberg of Newport Beach and her 7-year-old daughter

Breeana didn’t let the threat of a jellyfish sting get in the way of

a beach day.

“We’re a little bit worried but not enough to stay out of the

water,” Greenberg said.

Breeana wasn’t visibly concerned.

“I’ve never seen a jellyfish,” said Breeana, who was busy

collecting shells and bottle caps.

Though the lifeguards reported that most incidents occurred while

swimmers were in the water, some people were stung by jellyfish that

had washed up on the beach.

“Even if they’re laying on the beach and they look dead, they

might still be toxic and people should stay away from them,” Kelly

said.

While the lifeguards are armed with vinegar, anyone who comes in

contact with the stinging tentacles has other treatment options.

“The number one cure is urine,” Kelly said.

If someone immediately urinates on the area of the sting it will

neutralize the sting, but it must happen right away.

The other cure? Meat tenderizer, Kelly said.

* LAUREN VANE covers public safety and courts. She may be reached

at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at [email protected].