No. 1122 of 1,402
String jellyfish
Apolemia uvaria
Jellyfish & sea stingers🪼 Stinging tentacles
Danger to people: PainfulIt can really hurt, but it is almost never serious.String jellyfish belongs to the group: Jellyfish & sea stingers. It lives in: The oceans.2
Venom power
Stinging tentacles
Thousands of tiny stinging cells fire when something touches them.
How dangerous is it to people?
Danger to people: PainfulIt can really hurt, but it is almost never serious.🚑 If it bites or stings
- Get out of the water and pick off any tentacles (with gloves or a cloth).
- For tropical box jellyfish: pour vinegar on the stings for at least 30 seconds, call for help and be ready to do CPR. For bluebottles and most others: rinse with seawater, then hot water for the pain.
Always call your emergency number first (112, 000, 911). This is general first aid guidance, not medical advice. First aid basics
⛑️ Stay safe
- Never touch, catch or tease a wild animal, even a small one, and even if it looks asleep or dead.
- Give it space. If you meet one, stay calm, step back slowly and let it go its own way.
- If one bites or stings you: stay calm, keep still, call your emergency number (112, 000, 911) or get to a hospital fast. Remember what it looked like, a photo helps.
It is not out to get you. It uses its venom to catch food or to protect itself, and it would much rather hide. More about staying safe
Where in the world?
How big is it?
How long is it?
as long as 3 dogs nose to tail🍌as long as 17 bananas end to end🏊could swim the length of a big swimming pool (50 m) in 60 secondsHow big is String jellyfish compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
String jellyfish about 3 km/h (1.9 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid on a bike about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)
A galloping horse about 65 km/h (40 mph)
Where the facts come from
- Apolemia uvaria (iNaturalist): names and classification.
- Venom Wiki: the danger level, the typical size and the speed guess are our own. See how we work them out: How we rate danger.
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