In south Florida at this time of year we see lots of beached Portuguese man-o-wars. They can sting like a jellyfish, but are actually a “colony” of 4 separate polyps that all live together. Often just the bladder remains, but sometimes they’ll still have their full array of tentacles, which can reach 10 feet (and will most definitely still sting you if you touch them)
When I was a kid I thought they were balloons and tried to pick one up until it stung me. Brutal for a young child who thought the world was safe to explore
Sounds like the time I accidentally kicked a sea urchin under the water. The needles got under my toe nails. I wanted to be put in a coma to not deal with that, lol.
You can actually touch the bladder part, but the tentacles pack a punch. I’ve been stung twice including once when I stepped on one on the beach. It’s like a horrible combination of fire and electricity. 0/5 do not recommend.
Time to play a game of forbidden hot potato!
They wanna keep us down
But they can’t last
When we get up
We’re gonna kick your ass
Gonna keep on burning
We always will
Other bands play, Manowar kills
Other bands play, Manowar kills
Let each note I now play be a black arrow of death sent straight to the hearts of all those who play false metal!
When I was a kid, a book on marine life had a full-page illustration of “the Portuguese man-o-war,” along with facts about its absurd size. I thought there was just the one. It got a singular definite article, right? The man-o-war. One giant alien lump, wandering the oceans, stinging the shit out of people.
Pain balloons
Man-o’s-war
man-o-wars
Like how we write “cattles”?
I remember being fascinated by pictures of them as a kid but I didn’t know they were a colony
We have something similar on the west coast. Thing just floats around wreaking havoc. Nobody can say for sure how big the colony is. We call it the great pacific garbage patch.
