Thousands of Venomous Portuguese Man O’ Wars Wash Ashore in Australia:‘It Was the Stuff Of Nightmare

[ignhelper]

[video]https://youtu.be/N-mrjhVGauU[/video]

[QUOTE]Late last week, an Australian couple stumbled upon a freaky scene in which thousands of Portuguese man o’ wars, also known as bluebottles, had washed up on the rocks just south of Bateman’s Bay in New South Wales. Disturbingly, it’s a sight we’re going to have to get used to in our warming world.

Brett Wallensky and his partner Claudia spotted the scene while walking along Barlings beach on Friday October 27, having spotted a few in the water earlier in the day while kayaking and observing humpback whales. The couple couldn’t get over the striking blue color of the conglomeration, describing the scene as “alien.”[/QUOTE]

[url]https://gizmodo.com/thousands-of-venomous-portuguese-man-o-wars-wash-ashor-1820076556?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_faceboo k&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow[/url]

[DaWhatTheFox]

Imagine taking a dive in that.

[MightyLOLZOR]

Looks like a bunch of water bottles :v:

[editline]2nd November 2017[/editline]

[quote]also known as bluebottles[/quote]

Oh, well there ya go.

[Swiket]

I always assumed these things were a species of jellyfish but they’re not. They’re so cool.

[Splungey]

There's been loads washing up on beaches here in the south-west of the UK too

[Mifil]

Ironic that out of all nationalities it's the Aussies that describe the whole scene as "alien". Because enormous spiders are not "alien" enough.

[Coldmute]

Seeing the thread title at a glance I thought it was talking about a shitload of old Portuguese war ships and was interested in seeing how in the hell that even occurred. Those are some freaky looking sea creatures though.

[Ronin]

I'm never going to listen to Manowar the same way again.

[Sharo]

[QUOTE=Swiket;52848049]I always assumed these things were a species of jellyfish but they’re not. They’re so cool.[/QUOTE]

They are closely related to them, though. Both are in the phylum Cnidaria, but the 'bluebottle' is in the class Hydrozoa instead of Scyphozoa, the difference basically being that hydrozoans have longer [URL=http://tolweb.org/tree/ToLimages/LifeCycle1.JPG]polyp stages[/URL] while the true jellyfish have longer medusa stages. The cool thing is that they're not [I]one[/I] jellyfish, but a colony of many specialized individuals, the top ones being specialized for floating, and the bottom ones being specialized for killing, breeding, or digesting food. They are fucking crazy.

[That Deer]

Oh God, it's the second half of Bloodborne's Hunter's Nightmare DLC all over again!

[Arc Nova]

These guys were washing up here on the eastern coast of canada a few months back, they ended up closing a few beaches because of them.

[HumanAbyss]

Manowars are one of the most interesting creatures ever found. The odd nature of their biology is just incredible.

[Mort Stroodle]

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52848569]Manowars are one of the most interesting creatures ever found. The odd nature of their biology is just incredible.[/QUOTE]

Keep in mind that their weird-ass biology isn't unique to Man 'o Wars, Siphonophores represent an entire Order. There's many, many different kinds of siphonophores.

[Zufeng]

When i read the title,i though this thread talking about warships that washed ashore.
Turn out,its a some kind of jellyfish instead

[Araknid]

[QUOTE=Mifil;52848203]Ironic that out of all nationalities it's the Aussies that describe the whole scene as "alien". Because enormous spiders are not "alien" enough.[/QUOTE]

Even by Australian animal meme standards these things are fucken strange

[Kube]

:disgust:

Is this because of some population boom resulting from climate change or a mass migration resulting from climate change?

I never want to go to a beach again. We're getting new species every year here.

[TheTalon]

They wash up every now and then here in Florida on the gulf. Don't want those tentacles to wrap around your finger either, entire hand will burn and go almost numb

[jordguitar]

[QUOTE=TheTalon;52849346]They wash up every now and then here in Florida on the gulf. Don't want those tentacles to wrap around your finger either, entire hand will burn and go almost numb[/QUOTE]

Let's all agree that touching jellyfish, in general, is a horrible idea.

[karbine]

[QUOTE=Mifil;52848203]Ironic that out of all nationalities it's the Aussies that describe the whole scene as "alien". Because enormous spiders are not "alien" enough.[/QUOTE]
They were probably just trying to get on land to murder some bogans like all other australian wildlife

[F.X Clampazzo]

[QUOTE=jordguitar;52849883]Let's all agree that touching jellyfish, in general, is a horrible idea.[/QUOTE]

I mean, that's what killed Coyote Peterson so.

[Sgt. Napalm]

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52848569]Manowars are one of the most interesting creatures ever found. The odd nature of their biology is just incredible.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;52848597]Keep in mind that their weird-ass biology isn't unique to Man 'o Wars, Siphonophores represent an entire Order. There's many, many different kinds of siphonophores.[/QUOTE]

For those playing along at home, these things aren't actually a single animal, but a colony of different animals that cannot survive alone.

[t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Portuguese_Man-O-War_%28Physalia_physalis%29.jpg[/t]

[InsanePyro]

I thought Man 'o Wars were those giant fuckers?

[Sobek-]

[QUOTE=DaWhatTheFox;52848034]Imagine taking a dive in that.[/QUOTE]

I basically did as a kid. Insisted my mum take me to the beach during a big rainfall (swimming in the rain is awesome) but it was summer and the ideal time for bluebottles to be around. I dove in and quickly got covered head to toe (literally covered) in blue bottle stingers... All I remember is a blur of the worst pain of my life, being thrown into a tub of ice, and the agony of lifeguards ripping all of these tendrils and stingers off of me. It was pretty insane.

And yes, they had a good wrap of my meat and two veg.

You don't want to experience this.

[PsychedelicLiz]

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;52848597]Keep in mind that their weird-ass biology isn't unique to Man 'o Wars, Siphonophores represent an entire Order. There's many, many different kinds of siphonophores.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]the Portuguese man o' war is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, which, unlike jellyfish, is not actually a single multicellular organism, but a colonial organism made up of specialized individual animals (of the same species) called zooids or polyps.[/QUOTE]

Never even knew this type of animal existed. I mean I knew of the man o wars, but didn't know they were basically several animals working together.

[editline]3rd November 2017[/editline]

This is why I need to read whole threads before making posts.

[Stormbuster]

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;52848597]Keep in mind that their weird-ass biology isn't unique to Man 'o Wars, Siphonophores represent an entire Order. There's many, many different kinds of siphonophores.[/QUOTE]

Indeed, there is a variety of interesting bodyplans among siphonophores, including the By-The-Wind Sailor, which looks like a tiny boat:

[T]http://www.roboastra.com/Cnidaria2/images/hpac114.jpg[/T][T]http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DB1NYR/by-the-wind-sailor-velella-spirans-or-velella-velella-photographed-DB1NYR.jpg[/T]

On a related note, there is one called the Long Stringy Stingy Thingy, which is a fairly accurate description:

[T]http://www.biophoto.net/gallery/cnidaria/Hydrozoa/5270-D.jpg[/T]

[buu342]

Yo Australia you can keep those pieces of shit, we didn't want 'em anyway.

[editline]memeshit[/editline]

Don't get me wrong, they're cool but no.

[Rainboo]

[QUOTE=Sobek-;52850092]I basically did as a kid. Insisted my mum take me to the beach during a big rainfall (swimming in the rain is awesome) but it was summer and the ideal time for bluebottles to be around. I dove in and quickly got covered head to toe (literally covered) in blue bottle stingers... All I remember is a blur of the worst pain of my life, being thrown into a tub of ice, and the agony of lifeguards ripping all of these tendrils and stingers off of me. It was pretty insane.

And yes, they had a good wrap of my meat and two veg.

You don't want to experience this.[/QUOTE]

jesus fucking christ that sounds horrendous.

reminds of the time when i saw a kid getting carried out because he stepped on a bunch of massive sea urchins. that was the time i turned into a pussy who always stays dry/sticks to the pool whenever on a trip to the beach

[Drake1o2]

I think I just discovered a new phobia of mine

[Zero-Point]

[QUOTE=Mifil;52848203]Ironic that out of all nationalities it's the Aussies that describe the whole scene as "alien". Because enormous spiders are not "alien" enough.[/QUOTE]

We have plenty of giant spiders in the US in the form of tarantulas (larger by weight) and Golden Orb Weavers (larger leg-span). Difference is they don't wish death and dismemberment to you and your loved ones (usually).

[QUOTE=The Duke;52850237]Indeed, there is a variety of interesting bodyplans among siphonophores, including the By-The-Wind Sailor, which looks like a tiny boat:

[T]http://www.roboastra.com/Cnidaria2/images/hpac114.jpg[/T][T]http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DB1NYR/by-the-wind-sailor-velella-spirans-or-velella-velella-photographed-DB1NYR.jpg[/T]

On a related note, there is one called the Long Stringy Stingy Thingy, which is a fairly accurate description:

[T]http://www.biophoto.net/gallery/cnidaria/Hydrozoa/5270-D.jpg[/T][/QUOTE]

That last one makes me think of the Orange Baboon Tarantula, otherwise known as OBTs or "Orange Bitey Things". :v:

[Géza!]

[QUOTE=Rainboo;52850677]jesus fucking christ that sounds horrendous.

reminds of the time when i saw a kid getting carried out because he stepped on a bunch of massive sea urchins. that was the time i turned into a pussy who always stays dry/sticks to the pool whenever on a trip to the beach[/QUOTE]

There's a reason there are stalls selling swimming sandals near every coast that has sea urchins

At least, in Europe there are