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Sweetjane, that is an annual phenomenon. They are the little thimble jelly fish. Sometimes you can swim among them and not get a sting and other times you can be stung all over. Not a bad sting, and I've never encountered anybody that got real sick when stung by thimbles. My kids used to collect them (with their hands) and place them in buckets. Then when they held the handle of the bucket they could actually feel the strength of the thimble's movements because the bucket would pulses.

It seems to me that the man o'wars are quite late this year, or early, depending on how you want to look at it. But either way they really pack a serious punch and if you are allergic to the sting you can get in trouble very quickly.

I don't know how you can tell when one is dead, but I do know that when they are floating around they sting, and when they are on the beach playing dead they sting too.

They have long tentacles, and sometimes these are chopped up by the boat props and then their are just the tendrils floating and stinging, with no tell tale purple balloon in sight.

It has been a long time since any of my family members have been stung but I know Doctor Otto took excellent care of them.

hey thanks, amanda. interesting. i guess i only saw them one time cuz i was only there in late september once.

after telling folks we saw a lil man-o-war this past may, we heard two stories of people who swam unknowingly with them, incurring multiple stings, having a pretty hard time (like, paralyzed) and needing medical attention.

the one we saw was on the beach, but alive.

Saw another today by Hustler dock!

On sunday while swimming, I almost swam straight into a box type jellyfish called a sea wasp. My neighbor's son had also been swimming and he got stung by something.

A few days ago as I was swimming to the boat ladder after a dive a Man o' War drifted past the ladder. I decided to wait a while.

yikes!