Some 2,000 beachgoers in Ocean City, Maryland, have been stung by jellyfish over the past two weeks.
“The jellyfish population has really blossomed in Ocean City compared to the last couple of years,” Capt. Butch Arbin of the Ocean City Beach Patrol told WTOP.
“There’s a lot of things that determine how bad it’s going to be,” Arbin said. “How much rain there’s been in the spring. The amount of wave action and temperature of the water.”
Offshore buoys showed water temperatures around 77 degrees on Wednesday, which is much warmer than normal for this time of the summer.
“When we’ve had very little wave action, the water can heat up a lot,” Arbin said. He expects temperatures to drop as stronger currents move in.
For swimmers hoping to avoid a sting, Arbin advises covering up.
“You want to prevent the jellyfish tentacles from making contact with your skin, so clothing helps with that,” he says. Rash guards, long sleeves or even a T‑shirt can provide a barrier.
But while the stings can hurt, they are not harmful.
”The jellyfish we have in Ocean City, Maryland, are not the kind that you hear about that are deadly in … Florida and Australia,” Arbin said. “These mostly are what we call sea nettles, and the sea nettle sting is painful.”
If you do get stung, Arbin says to avoid fresh water and vinegar.
“Fresh water will actually trigger more stinging,” Arbin said. “Recent research says even vinegar, like fresh water, can cause them to sting.”
Instead, Arbin advises you to put seawater in a sand bucket and pour it over over the stung area.
“Take seawater and baking soda to kind of make a paste out of it, a slurry, and then put that on there. That’s the thing right now that most of the research says helps,” Arbin said.
Arbin, who for half a century has been a part of the Ocean City Beach Patrol, joked that he knew a couple of other things that may help.
“A bucket of Thrashers and a big old Dumser’s ice cream or two,” Arbin said laughing. “That’s what the doctor ordered.”
