The physalia, a highly stinging marine invertebrate whose tentacles can reach 20 meters, is playing spoilsport on the Basque-Landes beaches, which are subject to temporary closures when the injured flock to the first aid station.
Looking like a translucent, purplish apple slipper, the animal that floats on the surface, hiding its long filaments underwater, has tarnished the holiday postcard in recent weeks. On Tuesday, supervised swimming at Uhabia Beach in Bidart was closed for two and a half hours. "There were some everywhere, the rescuers marked those that had washed up with sticks.", says Karine, a resident who came back to put down her towel the next day.
Flora Benoît, originally from Ain, came across a physalia in the water at Saint-Jean-de-Luz. "We quickly got out. We saw a surfer get bitten and even the lifeguard who was fishing for it! We're being careful, but it's not going to ruin our vacation."
"We know this in Australia with 'bluebottles', they look like physalia, they are blue and smaller. I've already been stung, it hurts but 'that's life!'", adds Jason Speck, another tourist.
Like "lashes of the whip"
"We had sent our jet ski out to scout, we knew a school was coming, and it didn't fail.", explains Peyo Peyreblanque, head of the first aid station at Uhabia. It was he who decided to temporarily raise the red flag. "When we have an influx of five or six injured people, we can't both treat them and provide surveillance in the water. And when there is danger, our only option is to prevent people from swimming."
Injuries are not treated lightly. "They are impressive, like strong whiplashes. For some, it paralyzes the muscle.", the firefighter emphasizes. Treatment consists of rubbing the wound with wet sand, rinsing with salt water, and then applying shaving cream. The filament residue is scraped off with a wooden spatula, and the skin is finally washed with vinegar-based seawater. The injured person is kept under observation for 30 minutes.
Dr. Magali Oliva-Labadie, head of the poison control center at Bordeaux University Hospital, has developed this protocol since a recent study in Spain, where the beast is also prevalent, demonstrated the effectiveness of vinegar in limiting envenomation.
– Complications –
Based on her own research, conducted after influxes of physalia in 2008 and 2010, the doctor estimates that serious complications – muscle tetany, even respiratory distress, which can lead to drowning – occur "in 8 to 10% of cases"Seven out of ten patients describe very severe pain, some of which “worse than childbirth without an epidural or renal colic”. But it doesn't last long, usually one to two hours.
In recent weeks, "four-five" serious cases – without respiratory distress – occurred on the Aquitaine coast, according to Dr. Oliva-Labadie. In the Landes, several people went to hospital but “It was mainly to manage the pain.”, says Stéphanie Barneix, project manager at the joint union (SMGBL) which oversees 35 first aid stations along 106 km of coastline. The physalia concern "the entire south of the Bay of Biscay, from Asturias in Spain to the north of the Landes", underlines Elvire Antajan, researcher at Ifremer, for whom the current episode has not "nothing exceptional".
Warm currents and winds
Physalia live in the tropical waters of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, following the warm currents of the Gulf Stream. Usually confined to the open sea, they were "driven in" by strong winds between late June and mid-July, the specialist explains. Little is known about the animal, particularly its reproductive cycle, while the presence of numerous juvenile physalia, about the size of a thumb, is surprising this year. It's also difficult to predict their trajectory and arrival on the beaches.
Does global warming, which benefits jellyfish, explain the massive presence of physalia? "It's way too early to tell.", replies Elvire Antajan, "We should study the recurrence of the winds that blow them onto the coasts and be able to establish a link with climate change."The weather over the next few days could turn in favor of swimmers, with winds likely to drive away the physalia.
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