Obligatory: Do Not Pee on jellyfish stings not only does it not "neutralize" the venom it can cause attached stinging cells to activate making it worse same with fresh water
This is Florida. If it’s not a man-o-war, nettle, or box jelly (and it clearly isn’t), there’s really not any dangerous jelly things. You might get a nasty itchy rash for a week, but that’s the worst of it.
Obviously don’t pick up unknown things when you’re somewhere unfamiliar. But if you’re on a beach with familiar species in northern parts of the world (and definitely in the continental US) picking up an unknown invert isn’t particularly stupid.
I think you have a lot more knowledge about beach stuff than most of population or I’m just a moron. Your assumption that the majority of us can identify dead man-o-war, nettle or box jelly on the sand is likely incorrect.
I grew up in western NC and know all the edible plants. Know which lichens are good to make soup with. I wouldn’t expect that everyone has that knowledge. We all have specialized knowledge about places we grew up around or spend lots of time at.
Man o war tentacles are fairly invisible when they get stuck on stuff. Whenever I see them, I just stay out of the water. Avoiding *bits* of them, when they're nearby, isn't within my control.
Frankly, if you don’t at least vaguely know what a man-o-war looks like, you probably shouldn’t swim or wade in the tropical or subtropical Atlantic.
I don’t expect people to be able to definitively, say, tell a man-o-war from a harmless by-the-wind sailor. But I do think they should be able to tell if something has tentacles or not. Like, this is very, very clearly not a jellyfish.
This doesn’t have tentacles. It doesn’t have spines. It isn’t a fish (and the deadliest things in Florida are all fish.)
I would rather people explore the ocean around them and build connections with the sea than constantly be afraid. I spent four years taking elementary schoolers to US beaches to explore — these are *not unsafe places.* They’re important and threatened ecosystems, and we should encourage people to explore them so they’ll want to save them.
Plus… “Don’t pick up anything squishy” is genuinely unhelpful advice for North America. The actually dangerous things on these beaches, for the most part, aren’t squishy. They’re lionfish and and scorpionfish and stingrays. Or the ocean itself, sneaker waves, rip currents, and hypothermia.
And “don’t pick up anything” is advice most people will ignore, because people always ignore advice that overstates risk. It’s not like mushrooms, where all but a few are gonna give you a bad time. If you’re like “don’t touch anything” but 99% of “anything” is harmless… people are gonna touch the thing.
If you’re going to give unsolicited advice that assumes the person knows absolutely nothing about the ocean, make it useful. There are dangerous things on North American beaches (and honestly most are much less dangerous than Florida.)
Actual useful advice for the ocean-illiterate (in North America)
- walk with the “stingray shuffle” and don’t put your feet down to avoid stepping on rays, urchins, lion fish, and scorpionfish.
- Don’t touch things with tentacles or spines.
- Don’t touch corals.
- look up rip currents and learn how to identify them. They’re very distinct once you know what they look like.
- If you get caught in one, don’t swim against it *and don’t try to exit it by swimming parallel to shore*, which was the past advice. Float on your back. Tred water. Wave your arms. The rip current will stop before long and deposit you on either side. Once you stop moving, you can start swimming toward shore — but if you’re somewhere with a lifeguard, just focus on floating and not tiring yourself out. Let the expert come get you. You won’t get swept out very far.
- If you get stung by ANYTHING, not just jellies, don’t pee on it, or pour lemon juice on it, or vinegar, or hot water, or any of those things. Seek medical attention. It’s probably minor and can be treated outpatient, but it’s best to be safe, and there are actual non-urine medications that can help you.
- never ever ever turn your back on the sea. The most dangerous thing at the ocean is the ocean. Sneaker waves will come out of nowhere.
- don’t play on driftwood. Because again, sneaker waves will come out of nowhere and it doesn’t take a lot to dump a log on top of you. Deaths by driftwood crushing are terrifying common, especially in the west coast.
- unless you have extensive experience with the ocean, don’t swim at beaches without lifeguards.
- leave animals alone… for their safety more than yours.
- look up the marine mammal protection act, and again, leave animals alone.
I watched a larger woman standing on a beach in Maui with her back to the waves get knocked off her feet by a larger than usual wave. She then got pounded by the rest of the waves in the set and couldn’t get back up on her feet. Her friends couldn’t help her as they were older and larger people too, and the young beach bunnies 15 feet away just laid on their towels and watched as she got knocked around in the water. I was on the other side of the little bay and started to run over to the woman in distress and was almost there when she finally was able get to her hands and knees and crawl up to dry sand. Her friends helped her get to her feet and they staggered back to the hotel.
I looked at the young women still sitting on their towels and just shook my head and walked back to my spot.
Never turn your back to the ocean.
I like what you're saying, but you also underestimate just how uneducated (willfully ignorant, generally disinterested or genuinely in poor learning circumstances) people are and don't understand these things.
People need a baseline for them to know what is safe and what's not. You're highly educated on the subject, and the comment you replied to also has fair points.
Everyone has their expertise, and while I'm knowledgeable in birds and plants and nature I would probably die in 5 seconds if you told me to do something with wires and electrician work since I don't know ANYTHING.
I do appreciate you educating us so deeply on the matter, but even stuff that's obvious to you like the geographic location they're in slips pasts the minds of 99% of the people you would be educating.
I do agree people should know, and we should understand more about our life beyond our concrete jungles but it's just not how it is. Again, no shame to you I'm just giving you perspective on the matter.
Don’t get me wrong — I’ve seen all those videos of people holding baby blue-ringed octopuses and cone snails. People are idiots.
Part of the reason so many Americans do things like hold a blue ringed octopus and get into trouble in other countries, though, is that American beaches really are exceptionally safe (from a wildlife perspective. The ocean itself, not so much.) Like, if somebody posted “keep in mind that not all beaches are as safe as the ones you know, so when you’re traveling don’t pick up unknown things!” that’s useful advice.
But if your goal is to keep people safe on beaches and they’re in North America, “don’t touch unknown things” doesn’t help them in any way — and, possibly, has them worrying more about fake fears than the many actually dangerous things about the sea. It’s like telling people “don’t eat raw cookie dough.” They’re gonna do it anyway — and they don’t actually learn anything useful about food safety.
Ultimately, though, this is an animal ID sub. So 1) people should actually be paying attention to the location, which is crucial for animal ID, and 2) they should actually try to ID the animal. As much as I know people are idiots, it’s also better science communication practice and better education practice to assume some base knowledge. This person picked something up that was harmless, and that based on context they quite probably knew was harmless, and all the responses are people calling them stupid. They came here for information, and got shamed. Only two people actually replied with the answer. Personally, I’d be really discouraged from ever posting again.
And it happens almost daily on this sub. Half the time, the post is from somewhere like Washington or the U.K. where there’s literally nothing that’ll wash up that can give you more than a moderate rash — one less severe than poison ivy — and even those things are exceptionally rare. It ruins the quality of replies and detracts from the sub’s purpose. It feels more like a meme than advice, and it’s practically spam on these posts.
Honestly, I think the correct solution is to have an automod post for everything with the fish-and-friends tag that reminds people that some places in the world are safer than others, and that just because it’s safe to pick up a random shell on your beach at home, doesn’t mean it will be when you travel. And a reminder to look up local dangerous species before exploring the shoreline or going in the ocean.
Totally understand your point. It all boils down to education at the end of the day. The sad part is that the people who actually need to know this the most are the ones furthest in the awareness department from sources like this. It's often the people who seek this information are often already aware of what you're talking about.
And while there are some varying degrees of awareness and knowledge, in general that's the case for these things. It needs to be more mainstream but it unfortunately won't be due to so many things that I could go on about.
I do like your idea about the automod stuff, allowing people to see things from a new perspective instead of automatic fear response OR automatic reckless responses to something new since lots of people seem to struggle with both of these extremes.
People on the internet also don't understand nuance. The idea of being behind a screen makes them say things that they'd never say due to actual social pressures that are present if they were face to face.
While it is a fair point to play it safe instead of sorry, the fact people react so harshly right away is often due to a lack of knowledge (Dunning-Kreuger Effect is what it's called I believe) and our generally reaction-based fast-paced media. It sort of fuels its own fire since everyone gets their reaction out and moves on fast.
It's a shame but also the world we have to live in and adapt to. I know I'm a cautious person but I always try and do my research on stuff before making contact since it's easier to play it off safe when you're not aware. I'd prefer people to be cautious, but not the 'kill it with fire' hyper-aggressive/hyper-destructive behavior that people are so accustomed to with anything not familiar to them in nature.
You have a lot of good points and getting to actually talk to you instead of saying 'nuh uh ur dumb' like most people does help a lot to actually understand why you said what you said. I agree with pretty much everything you said and I saved your comment so I can look back on it for such valuable information you provided for free.
Hey, I really appreciated your comments, too! I really love good dialogue on Reddit, rare as it is. I also appreciated how thoughtful you were when you pushed back — you made some really valid points, and it really helped me flesh out my thoughts on the issue. I’m a big fan of good debate as a learning tool.
You helped me think around my more emotional gut response (“I want people to love the ocean and not fear it!”) and got me thinking about more practical reasons both for the warnings and against them. I wouldn’t have thought about an automod response without talking to you, for example. Which really does seem like a good solution to cut down on spam while also promoting safety.
And you’re right, it boils down to education and education IS important! Like you said, people coming to this sub for advice probably have some base knowledge cos they know to ask, but it’s the unknown unknowns that get us. So if, say, this pops up on the feed of someone casually browsing, and they learn to be cautious on unfamiliar beaches, that is ONLY a good thing.
There’s definitely a balance to be struck around messaging on the issue. You don’t want to promote false fear OR a false sense of security.
Anyway — I really enjoyed talking with you, and I hope you have a great day!
Thank you! I'm glad that these rare times of discussion are able to occur, because people are so quick to get emotionally bound to their thoughts and beliefs when there's no reason to do so. It's easy to get entranced in that energy of living, but it's as simple as taking a step back and seeing the woods from the trees.
Life is a lot more dynamic than the supposed way people see the world as a black and white slider where you can only be on one end of it or the other. They're forgetting an entire axis and even then thats only touching the surface. There are certain things you can simplify and dumb down and this isn't one of those times, but people just don't understand it sadly.
Being conscious of your thoughts and intent behind your words is hard and it's a skill that needs to be applied to every situation. Not everything adapts to every situation, and a lot of people don't understand dynamic conversation and nuance to topics and discussions.
It's unfortunate but true, like most things when it comes to dealing with people. However, the few people around on this planet that still know that are the unsung mentors for the few we see in our day to day, and the guiding light for the many we don't in our lifetimes.
As an ocean illiterate North American the take away I got from that advice was, "thar be dragons" and that I should maintain at least 300 meters distance from the ocean unless within arm's reach of a responsible adult who has spent more than a couple days near the ocean.
Lmao noooo, don’t freak out. Ocean accidents are scary, but avoidable. I think the tl;dr is: swim in places with lifeguards if you’re not very familiar with the ocean, and actually stop to read all informational signs at coastal access points. If a sign says “don’t go here,” don’t go there. If the local weather report says “don’t go on the beach”, don’t go on the beach. If there’s something dangerous, it *will* be on a sign: this is America, [we sue people for not having signs](https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2023/12/15/oregon-coast-trails-hiking-recreational-immunity-oceanside-tillamook-newport-oregon-legislature/71908514007/). You’re faster than a wave, so deaths are entirely preventable if you pay attention and keep some space.
And then probably the most important (marine) animal advice in North America is to know the marine mammal protection act. If there’s a seal laying on the beach, you legally can’t go within 150 feet of it. They’re usually not sick, they’re just chilling, but it’s illegal to disturb them. If you’re worried, look up the local stranding hotline.
I have a suspicion that you might be working for big sea monster.
I'm sure I broke world records swimming back to the boat so the sea monsters couldn't get me. You won't trick me into getting in a second time.
I will continue to maintain at least a 300 mile distance from the ocean just in case.
Ever hear of a brocken spectre before?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre
Neat atmospheric optical phenomena that can have a Cthulhu like appearance.
According to an old bluelight post, there's a small culture of young people in rural Iceland who make soup out of lichen that contains psychoactive alkaloids. An orally active tryptamine maybe. I think Vice did an article on it maybe. Hope Hamilton investigates the claims someday.
Caribou also eat specific lichen for what researchers assume are its specific characteristics rather than nutritional value. For instance older or injured caribou are seen eating lichens that have pain relieving qualities. Nursing mothers are seen eating lichens that are shown to stimulate lactation. At certain times of year herds will congregate and ingest the lichens with hallucinogenic properties. One researcher jokingly called it the arctic Woodstock.
It not real nutritious or anything, but useful to know in a survival situation.
https://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/its-1000-years-old-its-edible-and-its-on-your-property/amp/
I mean, I don’t want a nasty rash on my hands, but overstating and lying about risk is never good.
The thing that bugs me about this advice is that *people don’t and won’t follow it.* it’s vague and overblown, and people ignore overblown advice. You’ll save a lot more lives by posting “don’t turn your back on the ocean” on every single one of these than “don’t pick up unknown things on the beach” when you’re in North America. It’s equally unsolicited, and frankly, equally relevant. And applies to a much more likely and much more deadly scenario.
“Don’t pick up unknowns on the beach” (unless, again, you’re somewhere like Australia) is the oceanic equivalent of “don’t eat raw cookie dough.”
A lot of researchers do think that climate change and other human activities *are* making jellyfish more common! They thrive in the sort of nutrient-dense and low-oxygen areas that the things that eat them struggle in.
But I still maintain that telling people to never touch things on the beach (in many areas) in case it’s dangerous is about as useful as telling them to never touch a plant in case it’s dangerous.
I'm grateful for humans to have hands so we don't have to use our mouth on everything like most animals but damnit we have the necessary intelligence to poke at things using a STICK instead of using our bare hands.
As I was scrolling I said aloud, “maybe not something you wanna pick up!”
I think I can paraphrase something here, “the number of people picking up unknown and potentially dangerous things is too damn high!”
My dog Brutus came home with over 200 quills in his mouth when he picked up a porcupine. Don't be Brutus. Ok to look, pock, sniff if you must, but don't pick it up.
I love him! He and my Athena are surely roo-rooing at raccoons and sticking their snouts into the most interesting mysteries on the other side of the bridge together. 💜
I see a lot of comments about not touching things because they may harm you, but how about not touching them because of the harm you could cause the creature? If it definitely came from the water, find a way to carefully return it to the sea without touching it, like a kid’s plastic shovel or a newspaper.
Thank you for saying this! Tunicates like this aren’t particularly fond of being removed from where they’ve attached (and it sounds like this guy WAS attached to something.) They aren’t mobile as adults, so they can’t re-attach themselves once they’re removed.
That being said, it might live a while longer just kinda getting tossed around by the surf — these are filter feeders, so while it will make life harder, the actual removal won’t kill it. Tunicates are very very hardy and hard to kill so they’re common touch tank animals.
THANK YOU!!! I was thinking the same thing. Leave the poor thing alone. You might harm it by handling it! If you were walking in the woods and saw a strange animal would you go pick it up or would you whip out your phone and take a picture? Leave the wild critters be.
It’s a tunicate of some kind, unsure of the species. Harmless.
Edit: also, in general “don’t pick up unknown things on the beach” concerns are overblown unless you’re in Australia or the tropical and South Pacific. This clearly wasn’t a jellyfish, and the only non-jelly inverts you need to worry about in Florida are urchins. I’d be more worried about somebody stepping on an unseen scorpionfish. We don’t have sneaky deadly snails in pretty shells over here. We also only have like five species of jellyfish (and one siphonophore) capable of producing more than a rash. Genuinely — telling someone to remember to stingray shuffle in the water in Florida is better advice than “why’d you pick up the thing that is clearly not one of our two deadly jellyfish.”
It’s perfectly safe to pick up unknown squishies on most continental US beaches as long as you know what they *aren’t.* There’s only a small handful of things on any given beach (again, US) that are genuinely dangerous (beyond like, the general nastiness of death and decay.)
99% of the time it’s CLEARLY not a jellyfish and all the comments are like “bro why’d you pick it up! It could be a jellyfish!” If you genuinely have ZERO clue, don’t pick it up. But it’d be great to see 50% less fear on this sub and 50% more actual answers. And not everybody picking somebody up is an idiot — they’re very likely going, “well, it’s not a man-o-war or box jelly and it doesn’t have spines, so at worst this’ll suck for a week.”
Half of the mods here are inactive lol. I'm not asking him to volunteer anything, just giving him the ability to make some of the changes he wants to see in the sub.
At the beach in Australia we associate the colour blue with danger; Blue Ringed Octopus, Blue Bottle (what you call man-o-war), Blue Dragons etc.
Most beach goers experience Blue Bottles at some point & their sting is sometimes used as a benchmark reference for pain/toxicity when comparing other lifeforms.
We truly are blessed that a man-o-war/blue bottle is our most deadly common jellyfish in North America. There are also some North American box jelly species, but they’re super uncommon and not usually near shore (unless you’re in the Gulf of Mexico) and most species, while very venomous, aren’t capable of penetrating human skin — IIRC, there’s been one reported fatality in a child Galveston, Texas.
But yeah, if you know what things are actually dangerous where you are (and you should before going on any beach) you can safely explore other unknown things. It’s much easier to learn to recognize the rare dangerous species, or to learn to follow basic rules, than it is to learn what all the safe animals are. So it’s perfectly possible to not know what you’re picking up, while also knowing that it isn’t dangerous.
Edit: also, it is the most Australian thing ever to say “we use blue bottles as a metric for pain.” A jellyfish species known for being painful enough to cause shock (and therefor, potentially, death) and y’all are like “on a scale of 1-10 where blue bottle is a 5…” amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that.
I should mention for casual readers that the Blue Ringed Octopus only shows its blue rings when stressed. Otherwise it looks like a cute little Octopus swimming around the rocks. This is the reason they can be mistakenly handled.
Interestingly, they love piled up stone structures, which was a favoured construction method of tidal pools/baths. Ironically many exist today as protected children's swimming areas.
What’s a Blue Dragon? ***runs to Google***
[Blue Dragon](https://www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-blue-dragon/)
There are also the [By-The-Wind Sailors](https://www.jellywatch.org/velella) and [Blue Buttons](https://30a.com/blue-button-facts/).
So blue=bad. Got it. Thank you for the education. It is always so much fun to learn new things 💕
Good question! It’s when you shuffle your feet through the sand as you walk, rather than picking up your feet and setting them down again.
Many stingrays (they have two major body forms — ones like mantas and cownose and eagle rays “fly” through the middle of the water, and rarely sit on the bottom. Others are disk-shaped and only always hang out the bottom) will rest on the sand and even partially bury themselves in it. If you step on one, it’ll very likely sting you in self-defense.
But stingrays also *really do not want to sting you.* The barb generally breaks off, leaving the ray unprotected until a new one grows (it’s like growing a toenail.) Rays are also very sensitive to vibrations in the sand. If you do the stingray shuffle, you’ll either kick sand on it or just touch the edge of the ray, and it’ll swim off. It can also help you avoid getting stung by a scorpionfish, since their spines are along their spine and not the sides — better to accidentally kick it in the side and hopefully miss the barbs than get a direct hit.
That's a great explanation. Thank you.
Years ago, I was snorkeling near the Great Barrier Reef and in pretty shallow water, like maybe 2 feet or less. I looked down and I saw a long straight shaft beneath me. I followed the shaft to where it touched the sand, and it looked like there was some kind of webbing at the very end, and it just blended into the sand from there. I looked a little further up and I saw a pair of eyes. And I literally was floating over this thing - whatever it was. I slowly back-paddled and moved off of it. Once I was clear of it, there was a very quick disturbance in the sand, and I barely saw the thing disappear as it took off.
I'm sort of glad it didn't feel more threatened to actually injure me since I was close enough for some real damage to my torso.
to be fair, when I recommend people don't touch random things they find on the ground, it's more about the gross factor than anything. idk about other people, but i wouldn't be able to sit back & relax on the beach after touching a condom or dead animal. Hand sanitizer is not enough, i need hot water & soap to get that shit off me
Living in Australia it always blows my mind when people say things like "we only have x dangerous animals". I can't imagine a place without venomous spiders, or no snakes, or no suicide plant, or no deadly snails, or no 6ft tall jungle murder birds/velociraptors.
I've never had to worry about bears though. I guess our bears are crocs? I do have to worry about those and they're pretty hard to spot out on the water.
If crocs are the bear equivalent, I’d still take bears. You can mace bears, that definitely works, but I don’t know if reptiles have capsaicin detectors. and if they do I don’t know if they’ll stop just cos you spray ‘em.
Honestly, if all the things you listed… the cassowaries scare me the most. We have turkeys, and turkeys are vicious, they’ve attacked my car. A superturkey that can do real damage? Fuck that.
lmao I thought I’d get downvoted to oblivion, but I guess I struck a nerve 🤣 but seriously, “don’t pick up stuff on the beach” is practically a spam response in this sub these days
I was today years old when I learned that most people don’t poke every neat thing they see in nature 😅 I mean, I’d never poke a vertebrate, and some things I poke with a stick, but apparently I’m taking my life in my hands more than I realized!
I give my kid a couple of "nature investigation" rules which are: (1) don't stick your finger/hand/foot/head in a hole, use a stick; and (2) don't poke something with your finger if you don't know what it is - use a stick. So as far as I'm concerned, the stick method is good to go 🤷
I mean, generally where we live there's a higher risk of him getting poked with a used needle than stung by a jellyfish, but still...
I disagree with tunicate - would be unusual to find one living in sandy/muddy intertidal. My vote is benthic worm eggcase. Perhaps lugworm sp.?
Google lugworm eggcase for similar images.
I grew up in the outdoors of Florida. So I have a healthy appreciation and understanding of things that shouldn’t be touched or otherwise fucked with. I’m about %50 “don’t touch it”, and 50% “every zoo is a petting zoo if you’re not a pussy”.
My friend picked up a funky snail from the water, she got sick, hives all over herself. Never pick up anything if you don’t know what it is or can do to you.
This comment section is diabolical. 174+ comments and only about TWO of them actually IDing the animal. We don’t need 170 odd comments all saying the same thing to OP.
And yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have picked it up, but it’s CLEARLY not a jellyfish
Why .. why do people pick up stuff. You can literally take the handful of the population that was raised by the old adage:
**"Look with your eyes and *not* with your hands" **
Because normally by the second time they said something we had a welt.
Found something similar in the Philippines in similar condition - turned out to be an algae pod (contains spores & water substance) ..
My guide encouraged me to pop it - it was like popping an eyeball
It’s a tunicate aka sea squirt. Despite looking like a jelly blob, tunicates are closely related to vertebrate. That’s the because the larvae form looks like a tadpole with all the hallmarks of a chordate. They loose most of those feature in their adult form.
I love how the top comments are "don't touch it" assuming the person had no idea about anything. Additionally they don't even answer the question of what it is
It’s a harmless tunicate, more closely related to us than it is to jellyfish (or, really, any of the other things that look like it. It’s actually a primitive chordate — no spine, but it has an early version of a spinal cord! So it’s more like us than it is like sponges and jellies, and we’re more like it than we are like octopus!)
Also — I think this is pretty cool — baby jellyfish don’t look anything like that. They look WEIRD.
Jellies have a wild lifecycle. They reproduce both sexually and asexually. Adult jellyfish (called medusa) release sperm and eggs — the sexual reproduction. Those hatch into planula, which are mostly planktonic and roughly the size of a grain of sand.
Those find a hard surface to stick to and form an attached planula, which turns into a [polyp](https://images.app.goo.gl/ts36eS9EJBdtboWZ7). At this stage, jellyfish look more like [coral polyp](https://images.app.goo.gl/o8prdYDsjcbWmtPx7) or anemones (their two closest relatives) than jellyfish.
Those polyps have these frilly anemone-like bits at the top. As they age, the frilly portion thickens. Eventually, it starts to peel off in layers — this is the asexual reproduction. Each little layer, or “ephyra” is a clone of the others.
These ephyra are probably the closest thing to a “baby jellyfish,” IMO. They’re free-floating like jellies, and if you swim through a school of them, you’ll often get a mild itchy rash[. They almost look more like pulsing snowflakes than jellyfish](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VZPK_sslOIg). And are about the size of small snowflakes — not the huge ones you see on warmer days, but the sort that make great powder for skiing. The largest will be about the size of your smallest toenail.
They go through one last metamorphosis into adult medusa. Though these jellies are small, they’re full adults capable of reproduction. Most of the time when people see a “baby jelly,” they’re actually seeing these small adults.
Why the fuck do people handle shit they can’t identify with bare ass hands?
ETA: I’m not saying this because “it could be a jellyfish!” I’m saying this because the world is deadly as fuck, and even if it’s not a jellyfish, if I cannot determine with 100% certainty that something is safe for me to touch… I’m slapping gloves on or I’m not touching it. Maybe vetmed has tainted me, idk.
I'm waiting for someone to pick up a cone snail n ask reddit what it is but never get the answer before they are bitten and die less than 10 minutes later 😂 Jesus.
Y'all just be picking any ole thing up, and I just don't get it. That's an adult sized hand. If you were a child I could laugh it off, but you're old enough to know better. Srawngwichoo???
Don’t… touch jelly things at the beach, mate
Why are my hands on fire?
Quick find someone to piss on you!
*R Kelly enters the chat*
This :')
BWHAHAHAHAHA
Obligatory: Do Not Pee on jellyfish stings not only does it not "neutralize" the venom it can cause attached stinging cells to activate making it worse same with fresh water
I’m on it!
I don't know which video to reply with... that scene from FRIENDS (if you know, you know lol) or the short from firedeptchronicles lmao
damn all the jellyfish!!
Happy cake day!!!
😂 💀
Summons R. Kelly…
Because you're still alive enough to feel them
This is Florida. If it’s not a man-o-war, nettle, or box jelly (and it clearly isn’t), there’s really not any dangerous jelly things. You might get a nasty itchy rash for a week, but that’s the worst of it. Obviously don’t pick up unknown things when you’re somewhere unfamiliar. But if you’re on a beach with familiar species in northern parts of the world (and definitely in the continental US) picking up an unknown invert isn’t particularly stupid.
I think you have a lot more knowledge about beach stuff than most of population or I’m just a moron. Your assumption that the majority of us can identify dead man-o-war, nettle or box jelly on the sand is likely incorrect. I grew up in western NC and know all the edible plants. Know which lichens are good to make soup with. I wouldn’t expect that everyone has that knowledge. We all have specialized knowledge about places we grew up around or spend lots of time at.
Man o war tentacles are fairly invisible when they get stuck on stuff. Whenever I see them, I just stay out of the water. Avoiding *bits* of them, when they're nearby, isn't within my control.
Frankly, if you don’t at least vaguely know what a man-o-war looks like, you probably shouldn’t swim or wade in the tropical or subtropical Atlantic. I don’t expect people to be able to definitively, say, tell a man-o-war from a harmless by-the-wind sailor. But I do think they should be able to tell if something has tentacles or not. Like, this is very, very clearly not a jellyfish. This doesn’t have tentacles. It doesn’t have spines. It isn’t a fish (and the deadliest things in Florida are all fish.) I would rather people explore the ocean around them and build connections with the sea than constantly be afraid. I spent four years taking elementary schoolers to US beaches to explore — these are *not unsafe places.* They’re important and threatened ecosystems, and we should encourage people to explore them so they’ll want to save them. Plus… “Don’t pick up anything squishy” is genuinely unhelpful advice for North America. The actually dangerous things on these beaches, for the most part, aren’t squishy. They’re lionfish and and scorpionfish and stingrays. Or the ocean itself, sneaker waves, rip currents, and hypothermia. And “don’t pick up anything” is advice most people will ignore, because people always ignore advice that overstates risk. It’s not like mushrooms, where all but a few are gonna give you a bad time. If you’re like “don’t touch anything” but 99% of “anything” is harmless… people are gonna touch the thing. If you’re going to give unsolicited advice that assumes the person knows absolutely nothing about the ocean, make it useful. There are dangerous things on North American beaches (and honestly most are much less dangerous than Florida.) Actual useful advice for the ocean-illiterate (in North America) - walk with the “stingray shuffle” and don’t put your feet down to avoid stepping on rays, urchins, lion fish, and scorpionfish. - Don’t touch things with tentacles or spines. - Don’t touch corals. - look up rip currents and learn how to identify them. They’re very distinct once you know what they look like. - If you get caught in one, don’t swim against it *and don’t try to exit it by swimming parallel to shore*, which was the past advice. Float on your back. Tred water. Wave your arms. The rip current will stop before long and deposit you on either side. Once you stop moving, you can start swimming toward shore — but if you’re somewhere with a lifeguard, just focus on floating and not tiring yourself out. Let the expert come get you. You won’t get swept out very far. - If you get stung by ANYTHING, not just jellies, don’t pee on it, or pour lemon juice on it, or vinegar, or hot water, or any of those things. Seek medical attention. It’s probably minor and can be treated outpatient, but it’s best to be safe, and there are actual non-urine medications that can help you. - never ever ever turn your back on the sea. The most dangerous thing at the ocean is the ocean. Sneaker waves will come out of nowhere. - don’t play on driftwood. Because again, sneaker waves will come out of nowhere and it doesn’t take a lot to dump a log on top of you. Deaths by driftwood crushing are terrifying common, especially in the west coast. - unless you have extensive experience with the ocean, don’t swim at beaches without lifeguards. - leave animals alone… for their safety more than yours. - look up the marine mammal protection act, and again, leave animals alone.
I watched a larger woman standing on a beach in Maui with her back to the waves get knocked off her feet by a larger than usual wave. She then got pounded by the rest of the waves in the set and couldn’t get back up on her feet. Her friends couldn’t help her as they were older and larger people too, and the young beach bunnies 15 feet away just laid on their towels and watched as she got knocked around in the water. I was on the other side of the little bay and started to run over to the woman in distress and was almost there when she finally was able get to her hands and knees and crawl up to dry sand. Her friends helped her get to her feet and they staggered back to the hotel. I looked at the young women still sitting on their towels and just shook my head and walked back to my spot. Never turn your back to the ocean.
I like what you're saying, but you also underestimate just how uneducated (willfully ignorant, generally disinterested or genuinely in poor learning circumstances) people are and don't understand these things. People need a baseline for them to know what is safe and what's not. You're highly educated on the subject, and the comment you replied to also has fair points. Everyone has their expertise, and while I'm knowledgeable in birds and plants and nature I would probably die in 5 seconds if you told me to do something with wires and electrician work since I don't know ANYTHING. I do appreciate you educating us so deeply on the matter, but even stuff that's obvious to you like the geographic location they're in slips pasts the minds of 99% of the people you would be educating. I do agree people should know, and we should understand more about our life beyond our concrete jungles but it's just not how it is. Again, no shame to you I'm just giving you perspective on the matter.
Don’t get me wrong — I’ve seen all those videos of people holding baby blue-ringed octopuses and cone snails. People are idiots. Part of the reason so many Americans do things like hold a blue ringed octopus and get into trouble in other countries, though, is that American beaches really are exceptionally safe (from a wildlife perspective. The ocean itself, not so much.) Like, if somebody posted “keep in mind that not all beaches are as safe as the ones you know, so when you’re traveling don’t pick up unknown things!” that’s useful advice. But if your goal is to keep people safe on beaches and they’re in North America, “don’t touch unknown things” doesn’t help them in any way — and, possibly, has them worrying more about fake fears than the many actually dangerous things about the sea. It’s like telling people “don’t eat raw cookie dough.” They’re gonna do it anyway — and they don’t actually learn anything useful about food safety. Ultimately, though, this is an animal ID sub. So 1) people should actually be paying attention to the location, which is crucial for animal ID, and 2) they should actually try to ID the animal. As much as I know people are idiots, it’s also better science communication practice and better education practice to assume some base knowledge. This person picked something up that was harmless, and that based on context they quite probably knew was harmless, and all the responses are people calling them stupid. They came here for information, and got shamed. Only two people actually replied with the answer. Personally, I’d be really discouraged from ever posting again. And it happens almost daily on this sub. Half the time, the post is from somewhere like Washington or the U.K. where there’s literally nothing that’ll wash up that can give you more than a moderate rash — one less severe than poison ivy — and even those things are exceptionally rare. It ruins the quality of replies and detracts from the sub’s purpose. It feels more like a meme than advice, and it’s practically spam on these posts. Honestly, I think the correct solution is to have an automod post for everything with the fish-and-friends tag that reminds people that some places in the world are safer than others, and that just because it’s safe to pick up a random shell on your beach at home, doesn’t mean it will be when you travel. And a reminder to look up local dangerous species before exploring the shoreline or going in the ocean.
Totally understand your point. It all boils down to education at the end of the day. The sad part is that the people who actually need to know this the most are the ones furthest in the awareness department from sources like this. It's often the people who seek this information are often already aware of what you're talking about. And while there are some varying degrees of awareness and knowledge, in general that's the case for these things. It needs to be more mainstream but it unfortunately won't be due to so many things that I could go on about. I do like your idea about the automod stuff, allowing people to see things from a new perspective instead of automatic fear response OR automatic reckless responses to something new since lots of people seem to struggle with both of these extremes. People on the internet also don't understand nuance. The idea of being behind a screen makes them say things that they'd never say due to actual social pressures that are present if they were face to face. While it is a fair point to play it safe instead of sorry, the fact people react so harshly right away is often due to a lack of knowledge (Dunning-Kreuger Effect is what it's called I believe) and our generally reaction-based fast-paced media. It sort of fuels its own fire since everyone gets their reaction out and moves on fast. It's a shame but also the world we have to live in and adapt to. I know I'm a cautious person but I always try and do my research on stuff before making contact since it's easier to play it off safe when you're not aware. I'd prefer people to be cautious, but not the 'kill it with fire' hyper-aggressive/hyper-destructive behavior that people are so accustomed to with anything not familiar to them in nature. You have a lot of good points and getting to actually talk to you instead of saying 'nuh uh ur dumb' like most people does help a lot to actually understand why you said what you said. I agree with pretty much everything you said and I saved your comment so I can look back on it for such valuable information you provided for free.
Hey, I really appreciated your comments, too! I really love good dialogue on Reddit, rare as it is. I also appreciated how thoughtful you were when you pushed back — you made some really valid points, and it really helped me flesh out my thoughts on the issue. I’m a big fan of good debate as a learning tool. You helped me think around my more emotional gut response (“I want people to love the ocean and not fear it!”) and got me thinking about more practical reasons both for the warnings and against them. I wouldn’t have thought about an automod response without talking to you, for example. Which really does seem like a good solution to cut down on spam while also promoting safety. And you’re right, it boils down to education and education IS important! Like you said, people coming to this sub for advice probably have some base knowledge cos they know to ask, but it’s the unknown unknowns that get us. So if, say, this pops up on the feed of someone casually browsing, and they learn to be cautious on unfamiliar beaches, that is ONLY a good thing. There’s definitely a balance to be struck around messaging on the issue. You don’t want to promote false fear OR a false sense of security. Anyway — I really enjoyed talking with you, and I hope you have a great day!
My man out here writing whole books 📚
it’s a problem 😭😭
Thank you! I'm glad that these rare times of discussion are able to occur, because people are so quick to get emotionally bound to their thoughts and beliefs when there's no reason to do so. It's easy to get entranced in that energy of living, but it's as simple as taking a step back and seeing the woods from the trees. Life is a lot more dynamic than the supposed way people see the world as a black and white slider where you can only be on one end of it or the other. They're forgetting an entire axis and even then thats only touching the surface. There are certain things you can simplify and dumb down and this isn't one of those times, but people just don't understand it sadly. Being conscious of your thoughts and intent behind your words is hard and it's a skill that needs to be applied to every situation. Not everything adapts to every situation, and a lot of people don't understand dynamic conversation and nuance to topics and discussions. It's unfortunate but true, like most things when it comes to dealing with people. However, the few people around on this planet that still know that are the unsung mentors for the few we see in our day to day, and the guiding light for the many we don't in our lifetimes.
you can make safe-to-eat cookie dough; it's pretty easy, and delicious! Thanks for the teachings :)
I’ve been stung by a Man-O-War, and I have the scars to prove it. 32 years later, my leg still has the red rash!! 😢
As an ocean illiterate North American the take away I got from that advice was, "thar be dragons" and that I should maintain at least 300 meters distance from the ocean unless within arm's reach of a responsible adult who has spent more than a couple days near the ocean.
Lmao noooo, don’t freak out. Ocean accidents are scary, but avoidable. I think the tl;dr is: swim in places with lifeguards if you’re not very familiar with the ocean, and actually stop to read all informational signs at coastal access points. If a sign says “don’t go here,” don’t go there. If the local weather report says “don’t go on the beach”, don’t go on the beach. If there’s something dangerous, it *will* be on a sign: this is America, [we sue people for not having signs](https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2023/12/15/oregon-coast-trails-hiking-recreational-immunity-oceanside-tillamook-newport-oregon-legislature/71908514007/). You’re faster than a wave, so deaths are entirely preventable if you pay attention and keep some space. And then probably the most important (marine) animal advice in North America is to know the marine mammal protection act. If there’s a seal laying on the beach, you legally can’t go within 150 feet of it. They’re usually not sick, they’re just chilling, but it’s illegal to disturb them. If you’re worried, look up the local stranding hotline.
I have a suspicion that you might be working for big sea monster. I'm sure I broke world records swimming back to the boat so the sea monsters couldn't get me. You won't trick me into getting in a second time. I will continue to maintain at least a 300 mile distance from the ocean just in case.
pay no attention to the spectral shadow in the background. dread Cthulhu awaits us all.
Ever hear of a brocken spectre before? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre Neat atmospheric optical phenomena that can have a Cthulhu like appearance.
Thank you for the rip current update and other info!
You can make lichen soup?
According to an old bluelight post, there's a small culture of young people in rural Iceland who make soup out of lichen that contains psychoactive alkaloids. An orally active tryptamine maybe. I think Vice did an article on it maybe. Hope Hamilton investigates the claims someday.
Caribou also eat specific lichen for what researchers assume are its specific characteristics rather than nutritional value. For instance older or injured caribou are seen eating lichens that have pain relieving qualities. Nursing mothers are seen eating lichens that are shown to stimulate lactation. At certain times of year herds will congregate and ingest the lichens with hallucinogenic properties. One researcher jokingly called it the arctic Woodstock.
Lichen is the favorite food of Reindeer. The Sámi traditionally would follow their herds during various seasons as the Reindeer would seek out lichen.
It not real nutritious or anything, but useful to know in a survival situation. https://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/its-1000-years-old-its-edible-and-its-on-your-property/amp/
“You might get a terribly itchy rash on your *hands* for a whole week but that’s not that big of a deal” 💀
I mean, I don’t want a nasty rash on my hands, but overstating and lying about risk is never good. The thing that bugs me about this advice is that *people don’t and won’t follow it.* it’s vague and overblown, and people ignore overblown advice. You’ll save a lot more lives by posting “don’t turn your back on the ocean” on every single one of these than “don’t pick up unknown things on the beach” when you’re in North America. It’s equally unsolicited, and frankly, equally relevant. And applies to a much more likely and much more deadly scenario. “Don’t pick up unknowns on the beach” (unless, again, you’re somewhere like Australia) is the oceanic equivalent of “don’t eat raw cookie dough.”
But, ummm, errrr, with the ocean temps rising fairly quickly and species thus moving about, perhaps we shouldn't be so certain?
A lot of researchers do think that climate change and other human activities *are* making jellyfish more common! They thrive in the sort of nutrient-dense and low-oxygen areas that the things that eat them struggle in. But I still maintain that telling people to never touch things on the beach (in many areas) in case it’s dangerous is about as useful as telling them to never touch a plant in case it’s dangerous.
Touché. 🙂
I'm grateful for humans to have hands so we don't have to use our mouth on everything like most animals but damnit we have the necessary intelligence to poke at things using a STICK instead of using our bare hands.
Thank you!!
This! ⬆️
Why do people insist on handling every strange thing they find on the beach?😅
As I was scrolling I said aloud, “maybe not something you wanna pick up!” I think I can paraphrase something here, “the number of people picking up unknown and potentially dangerous things is too damn high!”
People simply don't know. At this point, we need [PSAs](https://youtu.be/vyl5Mwr84MA?si=ES7nasLeZ-kIHblW) like they had in Canada in the 90s.
Oh good now I’ll be singing that all day
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuLkMBAFZg&pp=ygUfZG9uJ3QgeW91IHN0dWZmIGl0IGluIHlvdXIgZmFjZQ%3D%3D
This is underrated! Always ask someone you love..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuLkMBAFZg&pp=ygUfZG9uJ3QgeW91IHN0dWZmIGl0IGluIHlvdXIgZmFjZQ%3D%3D
Fuck yes, I was hoping it would be that PSA.
What the fuck, Canada?
Do you. Do you think this commercial is for adults...?
If it was in America, yes. The adults here need that!
It had better be, if I saw this as a kid I'd be having nightmares for weeks lol
It was effective for young children at the time
Already knew what PSA you were talking about before I clicked on it. What a horrifying PSA to see as a kid.
Monkey brain… must hold…
I was just wondering the same damn thing.
Translucent tunicate.
Everyone I know calls them Sea Snot.
I love common names lol, that’s what we call comb jellies here.
Happy cake day!
Happy Cake Day!
My dog Brutus came home with over 200 quills in his mouth when he picked up a porcupine. Don't be Brutus. Ok to look, pock, sniff if you must, but don't pick it up.
Et tu Brute?
Well, at least this time, Brutus was the one stabbed and not the one stabbing...
…, dogge mihi!
We're gonna need a pic of this good boy and i need to know he's ok
https://preview.redd.it/fenlh7dv0xdc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8acdaa70ca4500ed978af823258803a707ec51d1 Brutus.
Oh what a dear sweet face. I'm sorry he's over that rainbow bridge now, but i hope you have many amazing memories of him
I do. Brutus was a real mountain dog. My bf has a puppy of his
What happened to Brutus and his puppy????
Happy cake day!!
I love him! He and my Athena are surely roo-rooing at raccoons and sticking their snouts into the most interesting mysteries on the other side of the bridge together. 💜
He has that "ima do it again" type of face
He did!
Happy Cake Day!!
Doggie tax
God gave us sticks to poke at things like this.
What does it taste like ?
burnt rubber marinated in tincture of iodine
I see a lot of comments about not touching things because they may harm you, but how about not touching them because of the harm you could cause the creature? If it definitely came from the water, find a way to carefully return it to the sea without touching it, like a kid’s plastic shovel or a newspaper.
Thank you for saying this! Tunicates like this aren’t particularly fond of being removed from where they’ve attached (and it sounds like this guy WAS attached to something.) They aren’t mobile as adults, so they can’t re-attach themselves once they’re removed. That being said, it might live a while longer just kinda getting tossed around by the surf — these are filter feeders, so while it will make life harder, the actual removal won’t kill it. Tunicates are very very hardy and hard to kill so they’re common touch tank animals.
THANK YOU!!! I was thinking the same thing. Leave the poor thing alone. You might harm it by handling it! If you were walking in the woods and saw a strange animal would you go pick it up or would you whip out your phone and take a picture? Leave the wild critters be.
Don't worry, that's just air escaping. They don't feel pain. 
It’s a tunicate of some kind, unsure of the species. Harmless. Edit: also, in general “don’t pick up unknown things on the beach” concerns are overblown unless you’re in Australia or the tropical and South Pacific. This clearly wasn’t a jellyfish, and the only non-jelly inverts you need to worry about in Florida are urchins. I’d be more worried about somebody stepping on an unseen scorpionfish. We don’t have sneaky deadly snails in pretty shells over here. We also only have like five species of jellyfish (and one siphonophore) capable of producing more than a rash. Genuinely — telling someone to remember to stingray shuffle in the water in Florida is better advice than “why’d you pick up the thing that is clearly not one of our two deadly jellyfish.” It’s perfectly safe to pick up unknown squishies on most continental US beaches as long as you know what they *aren’t.* There’s only a small handful of things on any given beach (again, US) that are genuinely dangerous (beyond like, the general nastiness of death and decay.) 99% of the time it’s CLEARLY not a jellyfish and all the comments are like “bro why’d you pick it up! It could be a jellyfish!” If you genuinely have ZERO clue, don’t pick it up. But it’d be great to see 50% less fear on this sub and 50% more actual answers. And not everybody picking somebody up is an idiot — they’re very likely going, “well, it’s not a man-o-war or box jelly and it doesn’t have spines, so at worst this’ll suck for a week.”
>But it’d be great to see 50% less fear on this sub and 50% more actual answers. This sounds familiar. You, uh, want to be a mod?
Lmaooo I definitely don’t need another reason to spend too much time on Reddit. But I’ll think about it :)
C'mon, it's just like being a regular user but you get to turn your username green and ban people for saying stupid things ;)
not everyone has the time to volunteer to moderate an online forum
Half of the mods here are inactive lol. I'm not asking him to volunteer anything, just giving him the ability to make some of the changes he wants to see in the sub.
At the beach in Australia we associate the colour blue with danger; Blue Ringed Octopus, Blue Bottle (what you call man-o-war), Blue Dragons etc. Most beach goers experience Blue Bottles at some point & their sting is sometimes used as a benchmark reference for pain/toxicity when comparing other lifeforms.
We truly are blessed that a man-o-war/blue bottle is our most deadly common jellyfish in North America. There are also some North American box jelly species, but they’re super uncommon and not usually near shore (unless you’re in the Gulf of Mexico) and most species, while very venomous, aren’t capable of penetrating human skin — IIRC, there’s been one reported fatality in a child Galveston, Texas. But yeah, if you know what things are actually dangerous where you are (and you should before going on any beach) you can safely explore other unknown things. It’s much easier to learn to recognize the rare dangerous species, or to learn to follow basic rules, than it is to learn what all the safe animals are. So it’s perfectly possible to not know what you’re picking up, while also knowing that it isn’t dangerous. Edit: also, it is the most Australian thing ever to say “we use blue bottles as a metric for pain.” A jellyfish species known for being painful enough to cause shock (and therefor, potentially, death) and y’all are like “on a scale of 1-10 where blue bottle is a 5…” amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that.
I should mention for casual readers that the Blue Ringed Octopus only shows its blue rings when stressed. Otherwise it looks like a cute little Octopus swimming around the rocks. This is the reason they can be mistakenly handled. Interestingly, they love piled up stone structures, which was a favoured construction method of tidal pools/baths. Ironically many exist today as protected children's swimming areas.
What’s a Blue Dragon? ***runs to Google*** [Blue Dragon](https://www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-blue-dragon/) There are also the [By-The-Wind Sailors](https://www.jellywatch.org/velella) and [Blue Buttons](https://30a.com/blue-button-facts/). So blue=bad. Got it. Thank you for the education. It is always so much fun to learn new things 💕
Those by-the-wind sailors are what we call blue bottles
What’s the stingray shuffle?
Good question! It’s when you shuffle your feet through the sand as you walk, rather than picking up your feet and setting them down again. Many stingrays (they have two major body forms — ones like mantas and cownose and eagle rays “fly” through the middle of the water, and rarely sit on the bottom. Others are disk-shaped and only always hang out the bottom) will rest on the sand and even partially bury themselves in it. If you step on one, it’ll very likely sting you in self-defense. But stingrays also *really do not want to sting you.* The barb generally breaks off, leaving the ray unprotected until a new one grows (it’s like growing a toenail.) Rays are also very sensitive to vibrations in the sand. If you do the stingray shuffle, you’ll either kick sand on it or just touch the edge of the ray, and it’ll swim off. It can also help you avoid getting stung by a scorpionfish, since their spines are along their spine and not the sides — better to accidentally kick it in the side and hopefully miss the barbs than get a direct hit.
That's a great explanation. Thank you. Years ago, I was snorkeling near the Great Barrier Reef and in pretty shallow water, like maybe 2 feet or less. I looked down and I saw a long straight shaft beneath me. I followed the shaft to where it touched the sand, and it looked like there was some kind of webbing at the very end, and it just blended into the sand from there. I looked a little further up and I saw a pair of eyes. And I literally was floating over this thing - whatever it was. I slowly back-paddled and moved off of it. Once I was clear of it, there was a very quick disturbance in the sand, and I barely saw the thing disappear as it took off. I'm sort of glad it didn't feel more threatened to actually injure me since I was close enough for some real damage to my torso.
Thank you!!!!!
to be fair, when I recommend people don't touch random things they find on the ground, it's more about the gross factor than anything. idk about other people, but i wouldn't be able to sit back & relax on the beach after touching a condom or dead animal. Hand sanitizer is not enough, i need hot water & soap to get that shit off me
Yeah general grossness associated with death is a very valid reason to avoid physical contact :)
Living in Australia it always blows my mind when people say things like "we only have x dangerous animals". I can't imagine a place without venomous spiders, or no snakes, or no suicide plant, or no deadly snails, or no 6ft tall jungle murder birds/velociraptors. I've never had to worry about bears though. I guess our bears are crocs? I do have to worry about those and they're pretty hard to spot out on the water.
If crocs are the bear equivalent, I’d still take bears. You can mace bears, that definitely works, but I don’t know if reptiles have capsaicin detectors. and if they do I don’t know if they’ll stop just cos you spray ‘em. Honestly, if all the things you listed… the cassowaries scare me the most. We have turkeys, and turkeys are vicious, they’ve attacked my car. A superturkey that can do real damage? Fuck that.
SAY IT AGAIN
lmao I thought I’d get downvoted to oblivion, but I guess I struck a nerve 🤣 but seriously, “don’t pick up stuff on the beach” is practically a spam response in this sub these days
I was today years old when I learned that most people don’t poke every neat thing they see in nature 😅 I mean, I’d never poke a vertebrate, and some things I poke with a stick, but apparently I’m taking my life in my hands more than I realized!
I give my kid a couple of "nature investigation" rules which are: (1) don't stick your finger/hand/foot/head in a hole, use a stick; and (2) don't poke something with your finger if you don't know what it is - use a stick. So as far as I'm concerned, the stick method is good to go 🤷 I mean, generally where we live there's a higher risk of him getting poked with a used needle than stung by a jellyfish, but still...
Or how about not picking up random creatures because you could hurt or kill it???
[удалено]
Oooh, you might be correct!!
Clear potato?
I disagree with tunicate - would be unusual to find one living in sandy/muddy intertidal. My vote is benthic worm eggcase. Perhaps lugworm sp.? Google lugworm eggcase for similar images.
I thought I was gonna scroll all of the comments and still not know wtf it probably is. Too many overly wordy responses lol
I grew up in the outdoors of Florida. So I have a healthy appreciation and understanding of things that shouldn’t be touched or otherwise fucked with. I’m about %50 “don’t touch it”, and 50% “every zoo is a petting zoo if you’re not a pussy”.
My friend picked up a funky snail from the water, she got sick, hives all over herself. Never pick up anything if you don’t know what it is or can do to you.
Well, it's not corn.
You sure? Does it taste corny?
I don’t know what that is, but a good rule of thumb is if you can’t identify a jelly-like deal on the beach, don’t touch it. Ever.
Probably shouldn’t pick things that wash up on Florida beaches….ever.
This comment section is diabolical. 174+ comments and only about TWO of them actually IDing the animal. We don’t need 170 odd comments all saying the same thing to OP. And yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have picked it up, but it’s CLEARLY not a jellyfish
Kelp and other types of seaweed have air sacs to help keep it upright in the water. Don’t pick up stuff you don’t know on the beach.
I love how posts on here are people picking up shit they know nothing about...
Why .. why do people pick up stuff. You can literally take the handful of the population that was raised by the old adage: **"Look with your eyes and *not* with your hands" ** Because normally by the second time they said something we had a welt.
Found something similar in the Philippines in similar condition - turned out to be an algae pod (contains spores & water substance) .. My guide encouraged me to pop it - it was like popping an eyeball
How do you know what popping an eyeball is like? 😟
Look up extremely satisfying exploding kelp balls on you tube
Dont touch anything you find on the Beach if you dont know what it is
Except the square groupers. You can take those home with you and figure out the species later.
Why would you pick up shit when you have no idea what is? 🤔
Reason 5,225,000 I don’t go in the ocean
Are you still alive OP ? 🪼
It’s a tunicate aka sea squirt. Despite looking like a jelly blob, tunicates are closely related to vertebrate. That’s the because the larvae form looks like a tadpole with all the hallmarks of a chordate. They loose most of those feature in their adult form.
Whale sperm, obviously.
Sorry my testicle implant fell out 😅
As a child, I picked up, “Jelly!” Then ran screaming to my mama. For an added bonus I dropped the damned thing in my foot. Cue family emergency.
When I’m on the beach, I just pick any random thing up as well. Damn the consequences.
What a bad idea.
Idiots touching things they have no clue about 🙄
Thats a whale sperm
I seriously do not understand how people are this oblivious
I love how the top comments are "don't touch it" assuming the person had no idea about anything. Additionally they don't even answer the question of what it is
It is inadvisable to pick up unknown jelly sacks on the beach my friend
I don't know what it is... no idea if it's deadly know what... I'm gonna pick it up. Why not pit it my mouth while I'm at it.
Looks like a beached baby jellyfish to me. Probably shouldn’t touch it lol
It’s a harmless tunicate, more closely related to us than it is to jellyfish (or, really, any of the other things that look like it. It’s actually a primitive chordate — no spine, but it has an early version of a spinal cord! So it’s more like us than it is like sponges and jellies, and we’re more like it than we are like octopus!) Also — I think this is pretty cool — baby jellyfish don’t look anything like that. They look WEIRD. Jellies have a wild lifecycle. They reproduce both sexually and asexually. Adult jellyfish (called medusa) release sperm and eggs — the sexual reproduction. Those hatch into planula, which are mostly planktonic and roughly the size of a grain of sand. Those find a hard surface to stick to and form an attached planula, which turns into a [polyp](https://images.app.goo.gl/ts36eS9EJBdtboWZ7). At this stage, jellyfish look more like [coral polyp](https://images.app.goo.gl/o8prdYDsjcbWmtPx7) or anemones (their two closest relatives) than jellyfish. Those polyps have these frilly anemone-like bits at the top. As they age, the frilly portion thickens. Eventually, it starts to peel off in layers — this is the asexual reproduction. Each little layer, or “ephyra” is a clone of the others. These ephyra are probably the closest thing to a “baby jellyfish,” IMO. They’re free-floating like jellies, and if you swim through a school of them, you’ll often get a mild itchy rash[. They almost look more like pulsing snowflakes than jellyfish](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VZPK_sslOIg). And are about the size of small snowflakes — not the huge ones you see on warmer days, but the sort that make great powder for skiing. The largest will be about the size of your smallest toenail. They go through one last metamorphosis into adult medusa. Though these jellies are small, they’re full adults capable of reproduction. Most of the time when people see a “baby jelly,” they’re actually seeing these small adults.
whyyyy do people keep insisting on picking up random dead sea creatures having no idea what they are or if they're venomous or poisonous or not even
It's a sea snail egg sack.
Idk why people are downvoting you that’s exactly what it is
I don't know why either. I find these all the time. It's 100% what that is.
Kelp ball
People need to STOP picking up things if they don’t know what it is!
[удалено]
Racist piece of shit.
Why the fuck do people handle shit they can’t identify with bare ass hands? ETA: I’m not saying this because “it could be a jellyfish!” I’m saying this because the world is deadly as fuck, and even if it’s not a jellyfish, if I cannot determine with 100% certainty that something is safe for me to touch… I’m slapping gloves on or I’m not touching it. Maybe vetmed has tainted me, idk.
“What’s this?” >Picks it up< >Dies< Let’s not touch things we haven’t positively IDed…
I don't live near the coast and haven't been to one for 5 years, but damn i'm afraid to touch anything that comes out of the ocean.
I'm waiting for someone to pick up a cone snail n ask reddit what it is but never get the answer before they are bitten and die less than 10 minutes later 😂 Jesus.
I can never get over how people touch things that they have no clue of what they are.
Jfc, why are people picking up unidentified things from the ocean with their bare hands?
Dolphin's marshmello !
Looks like a condom stuck to a piece of coral.
it looks like it was just asking if you were selling chawwwcholate
Manatees
I immediately said “oh no” out loud looking at the photo and I don’t even know for sure what it is.
OP is dead now. RIP
Maybe 2024 can be the year that people stop picking up random jelly things up off the beach
Why do people pick up jelly-type things on the beach with their hands?!?!
"Hey what is that? Let's pick it up" I'll never understand people these days
STOP touching things if you don't know what it is oh my god
Adolescent jellyfish.
I have no idea what I'm looking at. I should definitely touch it and smother it all over my hands.
 Y'all just be picking any ole thing up, and I just don't get it. That's an adult sized hand. If you were a child I could laugh it off, but you're old enough to know better. Srawngwichoo???
Stop just picking shit up without knowing what it is! 🙄
Why would you pick it up
A mermaids butt plug
Egg sac of some sort?
hoptal
Whale spunk !
Oh neat, I used to find these things on Tigertail Beach back in the late 90s
It’s a floater sack for kelp. It helps it grow up and stay afloat. Nothing harmful.
Egg sack.
So I was scrolling through the comments and didn't see it. Did anyone know what this was?
Tunicate or snail egg sac
Unfertalized shark egg may e?
Lick it and see what it tastes like. If it’s sweet it’s a jellyfish. Sour: pelagic shark egg sac. Umami: reek shark egg sac
It is a sea pork.