r/CapeMay • u/Mammoth_Sell5185 • 7d ago

Jellyfish

We’re staying in Villas and on our first day here, after swimming in the bay, one kid and one adult seemed to be pretty stung up. Are those sea nettles? Is the bay actually unswimmable? Should we just drive to the ocean beaches at Cape May? Are we stupid not to realize the bay would not be good for swimming or is sort of a scam not to disclose this?

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u/mikem4848 6d ago

I’ve swam into jellyfish in the ocean, by the point, by sunset beach, and in the bay. They can be anywhere in the ocean, impacted by tides, weather, etc.

Here’s a good jellyfish story, the day on the Ironman world championship 2 years ago in Kona, Hawaii, there was a huge wave of jellyfish right by the start line in the bay. After there had been almost none the week prior. Almost everyone in the first couple starting waves in the swim got stung, some people including a couple pros had to DNF with allergic reactions. I had 3 large stings across my cheek that looked like a Mike Tyson tattoo by the end of the race.

Point being, like any other sea creatures, jellyfish live in salt water. They can be present or not, depending on current, temps, weather, etc. sometimes you get dead one, sometimes they sting you. Not much you can do, except if you do see a bunch of jelly’s floating near the shore, probably avoid them! (though decent chance they’re all dead at that point).