Sea Lice are the microscopic larvae possibly of thimble Jellyfish or maybe fire coral, or maybe both or neither. They ride up the Gulf Stream between Mother's Day and Father's Day and come close to shore via eddies or winds and local currents. Some people, especially tourists, are immune while others, locals, dive instructors and lifeguards, tend to become sensitive. You can't feel them when you are hit and the bumps come up in 12 to 48 hours. The larvae have nematocysts (stinging cells) that are triggered by pressure (getting trapped between a bathing suit, PFD or skirt and your skin or by rinsing with fresh water. They can also dry on your gear and then magically nail you the next time you get wet. In my case I had one or two hits in the past few weeks but on Sunday I had over 100. By late Sunday night all my glands became painfully swollen and I felt like garbage. The area where I paddle is the closest the Gulf Stream gets to the continental US, usually 3 or 4 miles offshore. The visibility was well over 100 feet on Sunday and I ended up amongst a pod of over 100 dolphins which sort of mitigates the discomfort. You'll never see sea lice mentioned on any of the ads for Florida! It's prevalent throughout the Caribbean this time of year. cya -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of NEWTOT_at_mail.modot.state.mo.us Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 12:15 PM To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subject: [Paddlewise] sea lice? Those of us who live between the coasts would like to know what sea lice are. Critters or virus? Can you get them at Red Lobster?? Yes, losing your roll provides much opportunity to practice self rescue! Thanks for enlightening me, Tim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jun 07 2000 - 10:57:09 PDT
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