February 15, 2017
Jellyfish are of special interest to us here in Australia, a land where it seems everything’ll kill ya. Our first year here, we asked about box jellies and were told by the officials checking us into the country “That’s not what you need to worry about mate. You gotta look out for the Irukandjies!” We learned that they’re about the size of your thumbnail and just might kill you. “And oh yea, look out for the blue bottles and the man o’ wars also.” (OK, I guess the blue bottle and man 0′ war are the same animal but I didn’t know that before I got this app!)
That’s one of the reasons my ears perked up when I heard about The Jellyfish App (Android and iTunes stores). I installed it and I’m impressed, (and a little dismayed).
The app will tell you what might be in your area and all about the creatures, especially how stingy there are.
It even gives you alerts – warnings of what might be in your neighborhood.
Above, you can see why I said I was a little dismayed. We thought down here we were south of all the nasty stuff. Nope. Blue Bottles! Yipes! Oh well. It’s not like we were going to go in the water here – the water’s way too cold!
Nice app – very well done. So far, I’ve found everything I’ve looked for in the ID guide. If you don’t, there’s even a feature to send a photo to a marine biologist who’ll help you with the ID.
We often (usually) see jellyfish in the areas in the tropics where we swim, snorkel and dive. It’s nice to see just how much pain we’re letting ourselves in for. -Rich
