DoE recover dead porpoise from BT beach
(CNS): The Department of Environment said they believe the dead porpoise that washed up on a Bodden Town beach this weekend is a young false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). The carcass has been sent to vets at St Matthews University for a necropsy to find out how it died. The DoE said that it will be keeping the public posted about what they learn regarding the animal’s demise.
Meanwhile, the DoE is also warning the public to look out for Portuguese man o’ wars after one was spotted in the North Sound Sunday near the Yacht Club canal. With very long tentacles these blue jellyfish-like creatures can deliver a very painful venomous sting.
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Category: Marine Environment, Science & Nature
Next up impending earthquake!!!
Did it beach itself by accident or was it on porpoise?
Very Funny
Great one! The puns on this CNS article should be as good as the CNS article about that tennis pro found at fault for theft from the club where he worked!
Was he a local or jamaican?
Oh dear, there is nothing unusual about this, certainly it has happened many times before. Get a grip.
OMG. Not a Portuguese Man O’War! Will the police helicopter help cordon off the area? Will North Sound remain open for visitors. Shall we capture all the stingrays and keep them in the turtle farm for their until the threat has passed?
C’mon man. What is happening to us?
I’d rather be warned then stung you numbnut
I would rather you assimilate with Caymanians and exercise common sense around sea life you are unfamiliar with. What is next? Public health announcements warning that the sun is hot? We survived very well without being a nanny state.
I am a caymanian numbnut.
How much?
Enough to piss you off.
Assimilate? Why?
I hope you did, but I know you didn’t mean to write that! You want to be stung?
11:42 Calm yourself. No one is suggesting any of that. The DOE are just warning people that there have been sightings of the Portuguese man o’ war in our waters. As they sting like a B$&@h I personally would rather know that they are about.
They have been in our waters for millennia. That you live in Cayman and are unaware of them is what is truly worrying.
5:32 They are not native numb nuts. Making people aware of something that gives a nasty sting that is pretty bloody painful isn’t snowflake-like. Quit the snarky comments or if you are unhappy with people warning others about venomous wildlife in our waters go jump in a sink hole. There’s many to choose from atm!
They are absolutely native. I have seen literally hundreds, and have cleared them from beaches (picking them up by the sail).
7:54 No. They are a seasonal visitors. If we got them all the time and all year round there would be more sightings and warnings about it. Despite all your claims that alerting the public to their presence is “silly”, they are, in fact, lethal in some cases. I have lived here my entire life and they have always been rare visitors. Please provide proof of the “hundreds” you have cleared from our beaches. What else has the DOE warned the public about recently in regards to animals that pose health risks!? Your comments make it sound like they are issuing threats about dangerous animals every week. The warning about Portuguese man-o-war is utterly rational. Chill bobo.
What a dumb comment. So much for Caymankind. Not everyone knows about every animal in the sea regardless of where they were born.
Why can’t DOE do the Necropsy? Who is putting Caymanian people first here? As for the Portugese Man O War? More fear mongering!
Another great comment. Is there a shortage of meds just now? So should they get your cousin to do the necropsy because he’s Caymanian and once kept a goldfish!
who is this foreign freak only here for the federal notes…
Belly probably full of plastic.
More likely cocaine around these parts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o%27_war
The Portuguese man o’ war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war,[6] is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is one of two species in the genus Physalia, along with the Pacific man o’ war (or Australian blue bottle), Physalia utriculus.[7] Physalia is the only genus in the family Physaliidae. Its long tentacles deliver a painful sting, which is venomous and powerful enough to kill fish and even humans.[8] Despite its appearance, the Portuguese man o’ war is not a true jellyfish but a siphonophore, which is not an individual multicellular organism (true jellyfishes are single organisms), but a colonial organism made up of many specialized animals of the same species, called zooids or polyps.[9] These polyps are attached to one another and physiologically integrated, to the extent that they cannot survive independently, creating a symbiotic relationship, requiring each polyp to work together and function like an individual animal.
Venom
This species is responsible for up to 10,000 human stings in Australia each summer, particularly on the east coast, with some others occurring off the coast of South Australia and Western Australia.[24] One of the problems with identifying these stings is that the detached tentacles may drift for days in the water, and the swimmer may not have any idea if they have been stung by a man o’ war or by some other less venomous creature.[citation needed]
The stinging, venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles of the Portuguese man o’ war can paralyze small fish and other prey.[25] Detached tentacles and dead specimens (including those that wash up on shore) can sting just as painfully as the live organism in the water and may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the organism or the detachment of the tentacle.[26]
Stings usually cause severe pain to humans, leaving whip-like, red welts on the skin that normally last two or three days after the initial sting, though the pain should subside after about 1 to 3 hours (depending on the biology of the person stung). However, the venom can travel to the lymph nodes and may cause symptoms that mimic an allergic reaction including swelling of the larynx, airway blockage, cardiac distress, and an inability to breathe (though this is not due to a true allergy, which is defined by serum IgE). Other symptoms can include fever and shock, and in some extreme cases, even death,[27] although this is extremely rare. Medical attention for those exposed to large numbers of tentacles may become necessary to relieve pain or open airways if the pain becomes excruciating or lasts for more than three hours, or breathing becomes difficult. Instances where the stings completely surround the trunk of a young child are among those that have the potential to be fatal.
Treatment of stings
Stings from a Portuguese man o’ war are often extremely painful. They result in severe dermatitis characterized by long, thin, open wounds that resemble those caused by a whip.[29] These are not caused by any impact or cutting action, but by irritating urticariogenic substances in the tentacles.[30][31] Salt water treatment should not be used as a treatment.[28][32][33][34]
Acetic acid (vinegar) or a solution of ammonia and water is believed to deactivate the remaining nematocysts and usually provides some pain relief,[28] though some isolated studies suggest that in some individuals vinegar dousing may increase toxin delivery and worsen symptoms.[32][35] Vinegar has also been claimed to provoke hemorrhaging when used on the less severe stings of cnidocytes of smaller species.[36] The current recommended treatment from studies in Australia is to avoid the use of vinegar, as local studies have shown this to exacerbate the symptoms.
The vinegar or ammonia soak is then often followed by the application of shaving cream to the wound for 30 seconds, followed by shaving the area with a razor and rinsing the razor thoroughly between each stroke. This removes any remaining unfired nematocysts. Heat in the form of hot salt water or hot packs may be applied: heat speeds the breakdown of the toxins already in the skin. Hydrocortisone cream may also be used