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Comments

• [1] Sarah from Brooklyn August 22, 2008 - 10:48AM

  I've been swimming at Brighton & Coney a lot for the past 3 or 4 summers, and this summer is the first time I've seen jellyfish!! They're all over the place. Most of them are the harmless clear kind, but my friend got stung by a purple one.

  
  
• [2] John Weber from Bradley Beach, NJ August 22, 2008 - 12:15PM

  Jellyfish are becoming a problem in Barnegat Bay here in NJ. Check out thie funny video made by Shiftingbaselines.org . See the one called restaurant.

  http://www.shiftingbaselines.org/videos/groundlings_restaurant.htm

  
  
• [3] Kira from Astoria August 22, 2008 - 12:52PM

  I have been swimming in the Long Island Sound since I was a baby. The jellyfish have always shown up some years and not others, but this year there were lots, and they were big! I wasn't sure that the red / purples are poisonous but got out of the water quickly. Later my aunt told me she got stung by the same kind. Good thing I trusted my instints!

  
  
• [4] Vela from Amityville, NY August 22, 2008 - 01:03PM

  We anchor our sailboat in a cove on the North side of Gilgo Beach, well away from the ocean. We been seeing the same very large maroon-colored jellyfish in the cove that are normally only seen in the ocean. Of those seasoned boater who've anchored here for decades, no one can recall these creatures in the cove before. The small, clear jellyfish seem to be more abundant than ever this year, as well.. many of them seemed to be dead this past weekend.

  
  
• [5] Lisa from NJ August 22, 2008 - 01:29PM

  Clear hockey puck sized jelly fish were thick on the beach and in the water on the Jersey Shore last weekend.

  
  
• [6] rob from brooklyn August 22, 2008 - 01:32PM

  I've been seeing jellies in the GOWANUS CANAL. If they can survive there, they are pretty amazing creatures.

  
  
• [7] Jim from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:33PM

  If you're in the ocean NEAR a jellyfish, can you feel itchy or uncomfortable just from being nearby? do you need actual contact from a jellyfish to be stung?

  
  
• [8] Gene from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:41PM

  Re: Jim's question on itchiness:

  We've had a recent invasion on the LI Sound near Westport.

  Concurrently, people have been complaining about "swimmer's itch," which has been a periodic issue in the area in past years.

  
  
• [9] Gene from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:43PM

  I see I wasn't clear: Is the a relationship between the invasion of jellyfish and "swimmer's itch?"

  
  
• [10] Gene from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:47PM

  Re: Treatments for jellyfish

  Dr. Oz on Oprah just had this question(!) He claimed vinegar was best.

  Our local lore says meat tenderizer--something that had been on Dr. Oz's list, but dismissed.

  
  
• [11] Sarah from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:53PM

  The clear jellyfish on NYC beaches caller Charlie was wondering about are called "moon jellyfish" i think. They look kind of like clear, gelatinous sand dollars.

  
  
• [12] Cesar from Upper East Side August 22, 2008 - 01:53PM

  I've seen the pistachio-sized clear gelatinous nodules at Bridgehampton. Thousands of them. Some have little, dark sperm-shaped critters in the center. Could they be fish eggs?

  
  
• [13] Gene from NYC August 22, 2008 - 01:57PM

  John Smith was stung by a jellyfish in the Chesapeake c. 1608 and almost died. By evening he had recovered enough to eat the jellyfish for dinner.

  All tales of John Smith, of course, are to be taken with a grain of sea-salt.

  
  
• [14] eva August 22, 2008 - 02:31PM

  Jellyfish can be cooked, and are quite delicious. I am wondering if the type in the NY waters are the edible type. Then we could simply start to deplete their numbers through fishing?