Blue Bottles and Jelly Fish

This week blue bottles have been seen in the lagoon at Kingston. One of my visitors was stung on her arm at Emily Bay by a tiny blue bottle on Tuesday afternoon.

The Portuguese man-of-war (blue bottle) has a burning sting. It is not a true jellyfish, which means there are some things you should do differently to treat the sting. It is advisable to remove the tentacles and rinse with seawater. Hot water is best to stop the pain or ice if no hot water is available. Do Not use vinegar on a bluebottle sting, it will only make it continue to sting longer.

Check out the First Aid Guides for more information of Jelly Fish Stings.

Blue bottles are the main jelly fish we see when swimming at the beach. Sometimes the wind blows them into the bay, and we need to take care when snorkelling or if they have washed up on the sand and rocks, they can still sting when out of the water. I looked at some of my underwater photos of a blue bottle from previous summers. I didn’t like going too close because a few years ago, I was stung, and I am not keen to be stung again.

Jelly Fish are very pretty to watch but it is not nice to be stung by them. As the water temperatures warm up, you can sometimes see blue bottles in the waters and on beaches around Norfolk Island. In 2017, I also saw a pretty pink/mauve jelly fish swimming in a large school of bait fish. I don’t normally see jelly fish in the water in the bay. It was stunning to watch it swim up and down. I took a few photos keeping a safe distance, hoping not to be stung, but I did enjoy observing this stunning sea creature.

The simple jelly fish, which has been on earth for millions of years has a simple body structure but has survived since the dinosaur period. Jellyfish are mainly made up of water and they have no brain, no heart, no bones or eyes. They are made up of a smooth, bag-like body which can look like an umbrella. They have four to eight oral arms with tentacles armed with tiny, stinging cells. The jellyfish's small mouth is for eating and for discarding waste and it is found in the centre of its body.

I read that they digest their food very quickly, which consists of fish, shrimp, crabs and tiny plants. If they didn't eat quickly, they wouldn't be able to float, being weighed down by the large, undigested food in their body.

The jellyfish itself provides a tasty meal for other ocean creatures, particularly sea turtles and I have seen turtles feeding on jelly fish at Cascade Pier a few years ago, when I was fishing. I had to be careful with my fishing float in case the turtle tried to eat it. That is a reason why plastic is dangerous in the water as plastic bags can look like jellyfish to the poor turtles.

Jellyfish stings can be painful to humans, and from certain species, they can even be deadly. Although these magnificent marine creatures don't purposely attack humans, most stings occur when people accidentally touch a jellyfish.

The beach has always been a drawcard for me, it is where I go to enjoying relaxation activities. It is fascinating photographing the underwater world down at Kingston. I hope the readers are enjoying my marine photos and information I have been researching about the different things that I find when I am snorkelling Emily Bay and Slaughter Bay.

Remember to let me know if you see anything interesting when you are out and about on Norfolk Island.

Betty Matthews

24 January 2025