Toxic jellyfish spotted on beach

A citizen spotted a jellyfish washed up on the beach while enjoying the sea view at the Xichong Beach in Dapeng New Area on Friday evening. The bubble-like jellyfish turned out to be Portuguese man-of-war, a highly toxic jellyfish, sznews.com reported.

        The highly toxic jellyfish is captured on camera at the Xichong Beach in Dapeng on Friday. Zeng Xiaoling

If a person gets accidentally stung by a Portuguese man-of-war, he or she will feel severe pain and red welts will appear on the skin “stung” by the jellyfish, as if having been severely whipped. The red welts will not disappear for two to three days.

The tentacles of Portuguese man-of-war are densely covered with tiny prickly cells that can secrete deadly toxins, which can enter the body and cause symptoms such as sore throat, fever, breathing difficulties, shock and in some cases, death.

The average length of the jellyfish’s tentacles is 10 meters. When swimmers see the jellyfish, they often miss their best chance of avoiding it. Moreover, the tentacles of dead Portuguese man-of-wars can still sting, making even dead animals dangerous to touch, according to Britannica.