New Treatment for Bluebottle Jellyfish

Until now the cold pack has been the treatment for bluebottle jellyfish stings, but now researchers in Australia have found that hot packs are much more effective. Bluebottles are not a huge problem for Perth beaches, but on the east coast they are so prevalent in the summer that beaches on the northern half of the east coast are closed to swimmers. In Perth they get washed in in the autumn and winter. The bluebottle in Perth waters is a small one. It still has a blue float which is above the surface of the water, a number of tentacles below which are bright blue and generally one long feeding tentacle with rings of stinging cells around it. Bluebottles are a species of the genus Physalia (Physalia utriculus) – the big Atlantic ones are called the Portuguese Man-O-War which has a dangerous sting. Anyone for a swim?