Box Jellyfish

ive read on the internet that box jellyfish are found around Australia and here in the Philippines. True enough, we've spotted a few here in Palawan. 1 when my mom was boarding a pump boat. good thing she saw it first before making another step. it was right in front of her. a small one (the size of a thumb) but still deady.

the second one was found at snake island....some boat men/ guides took it out of the water... according to our guide/ boat man it was as big as his thigh...pretty huge..and deadly.. :eek:

locally box jellyfish are termed as Salabay.

we've also seen a lot of moon jellyfish and other gross looking ones but im much concerned w/ box jelly. i hate jellyfish... yuck... they look pretty underwater but still..... eeewww! hahaha better bring a lot of vinegar.... :D

When I was in the Bahamas last year, there were a few moon jellyfish and also what we call Sea Gooseberry's ... little round jellyfish that look like translucent grapes. Up here we don't notice either variety stinging at all. But people were getting out of the water down there with huge painful welts on their bodies. I didn't seem to get stung at all, although I'm sure I contacted them many times. The Gooseberry's for sure were impossible to avoid. Could they have been getting stung from something else, or can you build up an immunity to the nematocysts?

eeew... ive seen 1 or 2 of those. although i did not see much movement from them. according to some articles comb jellies/ sea-gooseberries have non-poisonous tentacles and they don't sting... maybe they got stung by other kinds of jellies like the sea nettle? :confused:

i wonder....w/c is more deadly the box jelly, the Portuguese man-of-war or a huge 8 foot Lion's Mane jelly? :D :eek: yuck...

i do see a lot of lotions that prevent jelly stings being sold in the market particularly in dive shops. most common is sting-goes? i wonder if it really works?

Diving in West Australia, you get used to seeing jellyfish, especially in the Swan River in Perth. Mostly Moon and Brown spotted jellies they can be the most common thing that you'll see. We do get a variety of Box jelly here but its sting is relatively mild, a bit like a nettle sting, if that means anything to you.
Over on Australia's east coast, the Sea Wasp and Irkunji (sp?) can be major problems. The venom itself is not what kills you but the excruciating pain can cause you to go into shock or convulse and you drown. In areas of N. Queensland special "Stinger suits" are commonly sold in beachfront shops. These are basically all over pantyhose which provide enough of a barrier between yourself and the stinging cells to eliminate the danger.
It may not fit the macho, adventerous diver image to be seen pulling pantyhose on before a dive but its a useful excuse when your wife finds them in the back of the car.!:D

Well, being isn't very macho either!

I have never heard of such suits....got to find some photos now....

ive seen some pics of those overall pantyhose suits....hahaha they look funny. i prefer the full suits made from rash guard fabric... :D

Yeh, wouldn't a lycra or 1mm suit do the same thing, and still maintain the macho factor? :)

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Originally Posted by seasnake

Yeh, wouldn't a lycra or 1mm suit do the same thing, and still maintain the macho factor? :)

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Depends on the color and pattern... :D A pink flowered suit might not look very macho...... *grin*

Hmmm ... you may be right ... okay, so a 1mm suit with the arms cut off and a picture of a gun or a monster truck silkscreened across the back . . .

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Originally Posted by seasnake

Hmmm ... you may be right ... okay, so a 1mm suit with the arms cut off and a picture of a gun or a monster truck silkscreened across the back . . .

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arms cut off? what about the jelly stings???? :D hahahaha the slikscreened monster truck and a gun would do just fine...hahaha :cool: :p ;)

I guess real men would just take the jelly stings and suck it up! :) I'll be the guy in the full suit . . . possibly with pink flowers ...

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Originally Posted by santelmo

i hate jellyfish... yuck... they look pretty underwater but still..... eeewww! hahaha better bring a lot of vinegar.... :D

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So imagine us, four females just surfaced from Monad Shoal in the Visayas, waiting by the side of the outrigger boat for our turn to climb up the ladder. Every now and then, we'd plant our masked faces back into the water to locate just where these two (two pics of each) were in reference to us.

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We were of course convinced that they kept getting nearer. There were screams. Fins were getting tossed back into the boat. There was a mad scramble up. The local dive master, name's Martin, was left holding my friend Benita's camera, and so took these souvenir pics. Good thing too, because now I can appreciate their lovely form at leisure :)

hahahahaha yeeeeeeee! :eek:

nice shots though :cool:

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Originally Posted by PinayDiver

The local dive master, name's Martin, was left holding my friend Benita's camera, and so took these souvenir pics. Good thing too, because now I can appreciate their lovely form at leisure :)

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Nice pics! Hehe, I understand the haste in getting back on the boat though!!!

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Originally Posted by SoCalDiveGirl

Nice pics! Hehe, I understand the haste in getting back on the boat though!!!

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Meanwhile...back at the office, non-divers ribbed me on the idea that on that very trip, we "bravely" sought out toothy thresher sharks but went jelly on the knees over what they perceived as a much smaller creature (who, really, was at the mercy of where the currents took it). But then again, someone who I thought was my friend :) had to point out (a parallel contradiction), they already know that I don't mind, say, rapelling over the side of a ship (an adventure race dare) but I have to be escorted across Manila's streets haha.

...and the better to appreciate my officemates' puzzlement over why shortly after encountering these at Monad Shoal

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we'd be all girly-girl over jellyfishes :)

Pics still taken by local DM Martin with buddy Benita's camera (posted with their blessing, naturally)

@ PinayDiver: sino scuba instructor mo? :o :D mine's Gigi Santos and Dick Reyes :D

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Originally Posted by santelmo

@ PinayDiver: sino scuba instructor mo? :o :D mine's Gigi Santos and Dick Reyes :D

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Uy, I met Gigi (she who is DM to the President of the Philippines :) ) once, years back in Tubbataha on the Island Explorer (before it sank!). She's a good friend of my group's most regular DM, Jay Ortiz. My NAUI open water instructor is Joel Sayo while my PADI advanced open water instructor is Ian Paredes. Both detailed, exact, and exacting in different ways -- one like that teacher we all used to have who marches around the room, "whapak"-ing his palm with a ruler; the other, practicing more of a soft-spoken motivational style. They were exactly how I needed them to be at the time. I'll always be grateful to both :)

I remember doing deco on one dive in a bit of current ... my buddy and I look up to see this cloud of Lions Mane jellyfish drifting straight at us in the current ... we were trying to stay by the line so we were dodging the jellyfish as they went by like some kind of video game ...

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Originally Posted by seasnake

I remember doing deco on one dive in a bit of current ... my buddy and I look up to see this cloud of Lions Mane jellyfish drifting straight at us in the current ... we were trying to stay by the line so we were dodging the jellyfish as they went by like some kind of video game ...

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a cloud? you mean there were LOTS???? :eek: just imagine hugging a large one... :D mmmm..so soft... so... so....??? :p

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Originally Posted by PinayDiver

Uy, I met Gigi (she who is DM to the President of the Philippines :) ) once, years back in Tubbataha on the Island Explorer (before it sank!). She's a good friend of my group's most regular DM, Jay Ortiz. My NAUI open water instructor is Joel Sayo while my PADI advanced open water instructor is Ian Paredes. Both detailed, exact, and exacting in different ways -- one like that teacher we all used to have who marches around the room, "whapak"-ing his palm with a ruler; the other, practicing more of a soft-spoken motivational style. They were exactly how I needed them to be at the time. I'll always be grateful to both :)

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hahaha...yeah, they tend to be strict talaga. DM lang ba sha kay GMA? i thought Gigi was the one who taught and certified tita glow... :D

well anyhow :) , im proud to be a student of both Gigi and Dick. Gigi as the Instructor/DM of GMA and Dick as the instructor of Luli (i think)..... hehehehe sosyal diba? :D :o ;)

Malamang, she also certified the President. Sosyal nga. First family-league : )
You know, I’ve always fancied that students are virtual “calling cards” for their instructors.
For example, I was once grouped with this diver who flooded her mask upon entry, stinging her eyes, and unsettling her (she was vocal about it). Continuing with the dive, I saw that her tank came slightly loose off its straps and was soon near-vertical, probably tugging at her reg. I alerted the DM. While he and I were at work on strapping back the tank, her weight belt somehow came loose and dropped to her thighs—quickly retrieved by my dive buddy at the time. It was an interesting exercise (and ok, funny later).
Back at the resort, she was asked the inevitable question: Who is your instructor? Oh dear :)

and what was her answer? hahaha i guess you wont advertise the name here on the message board since it would be a big disgrace? hehehe :D :o

well, that's why im always cautious especially after my 1st diving incident. im very vocal and proud pa naman of my instructors. mahirap na maka perwisyo. i dont want to put shame on their names...hahaha :o :rolleyes:

the only thing ive noticed is during classroom sessions they're very sweet, soft spoken, happy, smiling, etc but at the resort they may change into monsters...especially if the student is pasaway. :D

an almost similar incident happen to us. it was a korean student and he forgot to change his tank after the 1st dive. he only noticed it when we were at 60-70 feet at Cathedral rock during our 2nd dive. no choice but to escort that student back to the boat. hahaha he kept on apologizing for ruining my dive even back at the resort. funny.

another Korean had a problem w/ his weights...so my group ended up swimming back to shore. i was about to grab some more weights for him but another Korean stopped me and said to let him get it for himself and then he spoke to his fellow Korean in a scolding tone.... i felt bad for that diver...i bet he got so humiliated that he didnt even stay overnight as what was planned and chose to hitched a ride back to manila.

Instructors here complain about the high rate of divers who take their basic course but never dive again. I contend that it is because they were so poorly trained in the first place they either don't feel confident enough to dive on their own, or they do dive but have a negative experience right off the bat and that discourages them. That's why I broke away from my local shop. I didn't want my name associated with the poor quality and lack of customer service anymore.

I think we just started a new thread within a thread: I was once buddied up with a diver who…

…during safety stop, desperately held on to the anchor line, head down with fins nearly pointing to the surface. Turned out, she forgot to slip the pocket weights into her BC but didn’t realize it until towards the end of the dive (reason: didn’t auto check-list)

…unknowingly wore fins with floaters (slipped over the heel straps) so her feet tended to fly up, to which she responded with fierce kicking, sending her down, down, down. The next scene involved the instructor chasing after her (reason: poor body awareness/deduction)

…to my horror, started puncturing sea urchins with his reef hook (reason: early trauma?)

…wanting to see more of a lobster retreating in its cranny, ended up pulling an antennae right off (reason: stupidity)

A friend remembers that I was so mad at the fourth guy, I actually said to him: “So what’s your excuse? That the devil made you do it?” (reason: it was either that or kicking him on the butt)

Lu-Ann, great thread idea! Can you start a new one, and I will let you figure out where best it would go, as I am too tired right now! lol

Again, great idea!

yes yes...:D :p

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Originally Posted by PinayDiver

A friend remembers that I was so mad at the fourth guy, I actually said to him: “So what’s your excuse? That the devil made you do it?” (reason: it was either that or kicking him on the butt)

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you would make a great scuba instructor someday.... any plans? ;)

well, what can you say about the dive/course director who was caught spear fishing w/ a rich guy in Tubbataha??? :eek:

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Originally Posted by iDiveChick

Lu-Ann, great thread idea! Can you start a new one, and I will let you figure out where best it would go, as I am too tired right now! lol

Again, great idea!

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You? Tired? But, but...you're superwoman: continually troubleshooting, looking into every query, still moderating at 1 a.m., exceeding 500 posts...oh yeah, that would wear anyone down :)

There, there. The next breather I get from "CubicleLand," I'll start something over at dive discussions :)

Hi Sarah and Santelmo,
As agreed, I hauled this burgeoning discussion over to...Davey Jone's Locker (I figured that needs more rattling than Dive Discussion? :) ).

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Originally Posted by santelmo

well, what can you say about the dive/course director who was caught spear fishing w/ a rich guy in Tubbataha??? :eek:

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Busted! Columned on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (with a damning photo). I seem to recall Apo Reef (maybe on their way back from Tubba) but I may be mistaken.
Re: being an instructor, I don't know. I'm not worthy :)

thanks Lu!

i think you're right. it may be Apo reef....im having memory gap due to stagnation... hahaha

anyway, back to jellies.... :D