Jellyfish bloom off South Carolina coast
By Glenn Smith, The Post and Courier
Saturday, July 31, 2010 FOLLY BEACH — Tom Borum was trying to beat the heat with a cool dip in the Atlantic when –Zaappp!– a nasty little sting hit him right in the calf. Borum heard his fiancee cry out. Something zinged her beneath the waves as well, leaving a trail of red marks behind. They scrambled back to the beach Thursday and found others smarting from similar attacks. One little girl screamed on the sand as her mother tried to comfort her. “I’ve been coming here since I was born,” said Borum, a 59-year-old visitor from Maryland. “I’ve never run into this kind of thing. Welcome to the invasion of the jellyfish. Hundreds of stings from these translucent blobs have been reported along the Charleston County coastline since last weekend. Some suspect a swarm of jellies rode in with strong onshore winds and roiling surf. Others wonder if a shift in the Gulf Stream or this week’s blast of thunderstorms are to blame. Whatever the reason, they are here — in force. “We’ve had a dramatic increase in stings this week,” said Nikki Bowie, safety program manager for the county Parks and Recreation Commission. “It’s not only the number of stings, but the severity.” The beach parks normally see just a couple of reported stings a month, if any at all. Isle of Palms, however, had 162 reported stings last Sunday and an additional 186 jellyfish run-ins on Tuesday. The number of reported stings on Folly Beach jumped from 15 on Wednesday to 150 the following day, Bowie said. Several stings also were reported at Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, she said. … No one is sure how long the invasion will last. It likely depends on the wind and currents. “Hopefully, they will be gone soon,” Bowie said. “This is the longest stretch I can remember.”
