Portuguese Man-O’War

Portuguese-Man-O’War

As many of you may have noticed, Maui’s leeward shore was recently inundated by a kinda pretty but little venomous & stinging buggah ocean critter known as the Portuguese Man-O’ War. I definitely noticed, as my steering blade happened to pluck one out of the sea as I was making a change from the right side of the canoe to the left. The tentacles of this particular beast, as I unwittingly hauled it from the water, wrapped around my back, my jaw, and my opposite arm, not to mention wrapping around my little dog, Le (she loves to hang behind the captains seat). Not only did she have tentacles around her, but one was hanging from her mouth. ACK! Many thanks, though, to my intrepid crew (including an extra steersman – Dale – and our crack strokers, Mike & Derry, and a great double-hull crew – who I don’t actually remember under the circumstance, but so much appreciate) who got us back to shore in a timely, if breathless manner. In the end, we were both fine: little Le showed almost no adverse affects, and I got home and applied Benadryl cream to the SIX spots where I’d been stung.

Anyways, this has given me an opportunity to talk about these creatures: First off, many people refer to this animal as a “jellyfish”. But Man-O’ War are not actual jellyfish; instead, they are a colony of individuals called zooids. According to Wikipedia, “each of these zooids is highly specialized, and, although structurally similar to other solitary animals, they are attached to one another and physiologically integrated to the extent that they are incapable of independent survival.” Additionally, National Geographic has an excellent description of these animals that can be found through this link: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/portuguese-man-of-war/

Individual Zooids Broken Off From the Main Colony

Regardless of their passive/aggressive nature, Portuguese Man-O’ War are beautiful and interesting creatures. They’re also very rare on Maui (they’re most often found in the waters off of Oahu – it was our recent strong southerly winds that brought them to Maui shores).

Other important information includes the treatment of jellyfish and Man-O’ War stings. Note that some people can have very severe reactions to these stings, so it’s worth your while to check this information out. Some of this information can be found at: http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/portugue.html and http://chemistry.about.com/b/2009/08/04/how-to-treat-a-jellyfish-sting.htm

Maturing Zooid