This past July (yes, it takes me that long to inquire! ha!) I was swimming at the split. I was paddling along and saw something that looked like a piece of turtle grass- so i didn't get out of its path- whatever it was....it stung me. My arm was on fire, it was swollen and hurt like hell. Oh yeah, and there were these weird vein looking marks coming from it and going up,down and across my arm.

I've tried doing some research, but I can't find anything that fits this things appearance. I swear, it looked like a piece of grass. Does anyone know?

21 days until my b-day celebration in Belize!!! wooooohooooo! I can't wait to be back!!!

Megg~

Wow, sounds like whatever got you was venomous! Any time you get those "vein" marks that's a sure sign that it had some sort of poison. If anything like that ever happens again get to a doctor immediately.

Sorry, wish I could help on figuring out what it was! I'm sure someone around here will get it!

Maybe it was a stray tentacle from a jelly fish. I had a stray man-o-war tentacle wrap around my leg one time and it hurt like a burn! I rubbed a lime on it and it helped sooth it immediately.

Ouch! on the man-war tentacle. I considered the stray jelly fish tentacle....

I had the notion to find a doctor- but I thought it was too funny to go in and say "I was stung by sea weed!" ha! ha!

Thank you guys! I'll be avoiding all floating things in the water.

2 yrs. ago I was in S.P. by Wet willys laying on a raft at the end of the dock where all the kids swim & a purple Man O War rolled up on my arm, it was clear & blueish in color with a sac, my arm was on fire & it left 5-6 tenacles on my upper arm, the pain shot down to my lower back & I could hardly move.
I was helped to the clinic & the pain was unbearable so they put me on Morphine, spent 3 hrs. there & was given some type of steroids to help the healing. I had a tatoo for about 4 months.
Doctor said it was a Purple Man O War.
It was the worst pain I ever experienced.

How do you identify these "things"? Are they snake like? iiikkkeeee - I'm already afraid of creatures of the water!

Maybe it was a man-o-war that got me. The pain was shooting down my arm and back, but it wasn't as severe as your encounter. Glad you're ok, J Dog!

Meggs my guess is there was a Man-O-War tenacle in that seaweed.
If you had gotten a hold of the whole thing you would of had to see a doctor. I was almost crying it hurt so bad, then the Doc told me no alcohol for 48 hrs, I lasted about 24 hrs. lol!!
After I got out of the water a guy from the dive shop came over & poured some apple vinegar on it to nuetralize it & scraped off the tenacles,he also helped me to the clinic.

Just to put things in balance, in five years operating a dive centre I've only had one guest who was significantly hurt by a jellyfish. Lots of minor irritation from pica-pica and I believe some people react badly to it, but I've never seen a bad reaction.

Pica-pica, is there anything that will prevent it. Do you know what it actually is? I can not find any info about it. It can cause a terrible itchy rash.

Use the search function on this page and you'll find plenty of info.

Thanks SimonB, funny a google search produced no results but the message board has alot of good infornmation.

With Google you have to search "pica pica" +belize to get results.

pica pica is something similar to the jellyfish but it's different. i don't know what the real name for it is but it doesn't have any tentacles. it usually comes around during the easter.what u can do is just rub alcohol on it or some pple put the vicks vapor rub on it and it helps.just avoid scratching it for it may tend to get worse

I'm not 100% sure , but wooooohooooo may be copyright, at least on this message board!

Check with Spurs....

Pica pica, usually always sting the skin under your suit when they get trapped. I have been stung very badly several times, seems to get worse for a few days, DO NOT SCRATCH...seems to spread if you do. My miracle preventive solution is oil, baby, suntan, cooking. under your suit prior to going in the water,they cant sting. they are seasonal and are only around for a few months....

Long Hot showers help a lot
It seems to stop the itching for quite a while and it heals faster.
Cooper vaseline seems to work even better.

If you get stung by a jelly fish or man a war, immediately wash the area with meat tenderizer or ammonia and it helps A LOT

I think vinegar works the best on jelly fish & man o war.

Elbert, makes sense vaseline would work better, and oh what fun!!!!

hmmm, vinegar, baby oil, cooking oil, vaseline, amonia and meat tenderizer. I just wonder what the guy checking my luggage is gonna think:)

Careful. Some of these are harmful to the reefs. Be sure they are safe before using them.

heavy bodied oils dont come off your skin,,suntan oils will,more than baby oil and actually vasaline seems a good choice. sun block will..and what will hurt the reef most is human urination..causes white pox which can spread quickly and kill reefs .

I never urinate in my wetsuit. It's just plain disgusting. It would be no different than urinating in my drysuit. Blech!!!

Two kinds thoes that do and thoes that lie about it :-)
It warms me up when i'm cold and keeps jellies out of my suit . I have an instructional video i could send you Canuck, Its not that hard. If you do it 4 times and log it i can give you a PADI Specialty.

LOL!! You're too funny elbert!! A specialty huh?? SSI doesn't have that one ...

Yes, I've heard the 'do it or lie about it' schtick before. I seriously have never urinated in my wetsuit (or my drysuit for that matter!!). I do get the urge when I get out of the water though, especially after a drysuit dive in 50F or colder water!! It usually begins at my safety stop. By the time I hit the beach, I'm running for the nearest person to unzip me!!

Canuck
What other pleasures do you deny yourself?

Yech!! I wouldn't call piddling in my wetsuit a 'pleasure'. It's as disgusting as using spit in your mask for defogger, which over time, will eventually cause fungus to grow.

I will however, float an air biscuit in my drysuit for my poor unsuspecting dive buddy from time to time ....

O.K. GROSS! TMI

HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Spit in your mask is the best and least expensive defogger there is. It was the earliest defogger known to diving man.

It won't cause fungus to grow, if one cleans their mask now and then.

A little pee never hurt a wetsuit but holding it in has hurt some kidneys/bladders. Nothing worse than having to go, cuz one didn't take advantage of the opportunity whilst still in the water and now the boat is going wham wham wham all the way back to shore. Shudder.

I think watching people spit into their mask is almost as disgusting as someone spitting on the sidewalk.

I also think urinating in your wetsuit is alot different than peeing in the water in your bathing suit.

If I have to go while I'm on a dive boat, I climb out of my wetsuit and jump into the water.

I'm just going to have to kindly agree to disagree on this topic.

LOL, well, if someone is spitting on the sidewalk, then you or others might step in it. Not quite the same thing. And certainly in that regard, I agree with you. I was once in Hong Kong and as I walked down the sidewalk, some guy sitting in the doorway of a store, horked a loogie onto my shoe. Now THAT is gross and disgusting.

As for jumping in and out of the water and climbing in and out of a wetsuit on a diveboat, I do believe that guys have it easier than gals in that regard, so yeah, we'll just agree to disagree.

Lemon Mr. Clean or some such is great for soaking of the wetsuit and booties after a dive trip.

The guy actually horked a loogie onto your shoe???

Mr.Clean on wetsuit huh? I never tried that one before, but I'll definitely try it when I get back from this trip. It's a lot cheaper than "sink the stink". My gear always smells like arse after a week of saltwater diving!

Most of my diving is fresh water, so I simply rinse my gear off in the bath tub and hang it up to dry. In a way, there are 'some' advantages to coldwater / freshwater diving.

Yeah, yeah, he actually did .. . ewwwwwwwwww.

And also, I hate the smell of "sink the stink", so a lemon cleaning product is better. Maybe Lemon Lysol. Of course, you are going to be dilluting it in the bathtub.

Hmm, and if your gear smells like "arse", maybe it's those fluffers you are willing to let go in your suit.

LMAO!!! That's only my drysuit! I put a little extra air into my drysuit so that when my dive buddy unzips me, they get a little blast of air. LOL!! Of course, we only do this when we want to be cruel.

I've tried the lysol thing, but I didn't like the smell too much. I'm definitely going to try the lemon mr.clean though.

By the way, I've heard that if you get stung, getting someone to pee on the stung site can be quite helpful.

(wicked grin)

I've heard that too. I've also heard warm soapy water works well in addition to vinegar.

Do me a favour, if we ever meet and dive together, and I get stung, make sure you ask before you pee on me....

What kind of friend would I be, if I didn't take care of your immediate needs? Sheesh. You can thank me later.

With friends like that, who needs enemas?

Say, aren't you the guy that fluffs up your dry suit, just to thrill your friends?