This beautiful, majestic creature
could kill you in a matter of minutes.
But you didn't know that,
so you decided to touch it.
Now, that excruciating pain you feel
is its powerful venom entering your body.
You're dizzy and about to faint,
but you must keep swimming
back to shore.
‘Cause this creature doesn't travel alone.
There could be 1,000 more of them
coming your way.
This critter got its name
as it resembles an 18th-century
Portuguese warship under full sail.
The Man o’ war is a type of siphonophore,
a colony of multiple,
genetically identical individuals
living together to form a whole.
And all members of a man o’ war
work together as a killing machine.
Its tentacles contain capsules
that fire darts loaded with a potent,
fast-acting poison
designed to capture fish.
In humans,
it can cause welts on the skin.
If you’re allergic,
you could have a severe reaction and die.
Although a Portuguese man o' war's sting
causes an enormous amount of pain,
don’t start thrashing around
or you could make it even worse.
This creature’s tentacles
can be as long as 50m (165 ft).
The more you move,
the more likely you are to get
entangled in the tentacles
and stung by their barbs.
Too many stings can cause you to go
into anaphylactic shock.
A life-threatening condition
caused by a severe allergic reaction.
To avoid that,
slowly move away from the man o’ war.
It's summertime.
You're ready to jump into the sea
and have some fun, but slow down.
Before getting into the water,
check local beach reports
and warning signs
for the presence of man o’ wars,
especially during this season.
They reach full maturity in summer,
so that's when their venom
is most powerful.
In the summer of 1987,
a 67-year-old woman was exposed
to almost 6 m (19.7 ft)
of a Portuguese man o' war's tentacles.
After it stung her,
she stopped breathing,
and the blood stopped flowing to her brain
and organs.
Unfortunately, she died.
Pouring freshwater on the wound
might be your first instinct,
but that would only make things worse.
You just got out of the salty ocean.
If you pour freshwater on your wounds,
the change in salinity
will release the venom
still in the tentacles.
Instead, rinse the wounds
with saltwater or vinegar.
That will inactivate the stingers
and prevent them
from releasing more toxins.
Now it’s time to pull the tentacles
off your skin.
They might be difficult to spot and remove
but do your best to do it carefully.
Never touch the tentacles
with your bare hands,
wear gloves
or something that can protect your skin
against those venomous barbs.
In 2017
experts at the University of Hawai‘i – Mānoa
discovered that after you put
your wounds in vinegar,
you’ll need to apply heat.
Put the wounds in 45 °C (113 °F) water
or apply a hot pack for 45 minutes.
This will help to inactivate the venom
that's already in your body.
If you develop shortness of breath,
chest pain and weakness
you’ll need to seek medical attention
right away.
You just survived getting stung
by a Portuguese man o' war.
If you thought that was bad luck,
how about getting bitten
by one of the cutest marine creatures?
This tiny thing has enough venom
to kill 26 human adults,
but you're not going to be one of them
because everything you need to get out alive
is right here.