Bees, Wasps and Bristle Worms: Gross Photos of Stings
June 24th, 2007, 13 Comments »
This morning I was stung by a Pelagia noctiluca, a small luminous jellyfish. I was snorkeling out beyond the bay where I usually go, and had spotted plenty of jellies in the water. I was being careful, but I guess the current carried this one into my outstretched arm.
It hurt like a big, bad bee sting (heh). I thrashed around a bit, swiping at my arm and generally looking like shark bait. A section of my arm went numb for a few moments. Then it just throbbed as I made the long swim back to shore.
Yes, I could have, uh, peed on it when I got back to shore, but I opted to just drive home and apply a more acidic fluid: vinegar. It had a nearly immediate effect. After a cold compress and about six hours, I can barely feel the sting.
Other Photos of Stings
I got to thinking about what else can sting me, both under the waves and on top of them. That led to a long, gross search for photos of stings in Flickr that looked way, way worse than my lame discolouration. I thought I’d assemble them here for your edification. They’re after the jump, because some are fairly disgusting, and I don’t want to be responsible for anybody losing their lunch on their keyboard. In most cases, you can click for even more close-up grossness.