BluebottleWatch: A new research project to develop a bluebottle prediction tool for our beaches
Do you have a phone with a camera? The answer is probably yes, so here is your chance to help Surf Life Saving with some important research.
Many Australians know the pain associated with a bluebottle sting, yet little is known about bluebottles and what brings them to the coast. A new research project, BluebottleWatch, led by The University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), will shed new light on bluebottle behaviour, movements, and the distribution of bluebottles landing on our beaches.
An armada of bluebottles beached at the high tide mark (Dr Amandine Schaeffer, UNSW, Maroubra Beach)
How will we do this?
Partnering with Griffith University and their Sea Jellies lab at Sea World, Seatech (University of Toulon, France), the Bureau of Meteorology, and the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, we will use an innovative combination of laboratory work, oceanic and beach field surveys, statistical and hydrodynamic modelling to fill the current knowledge gaps and ultimately develop the first bluebottle risk prediction tool for our beaches.
PhD student Natacha Bourg collecting behaviour and abundance data at Maroubra Beach (Dr Amandine Schaeffer, UNSW, Maroubra Beach)
What are bluebottles?
It is not a jellyfish, but a fascinating colonial organism (called a Siphonophore) found predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions. For those citizen scientists out there, Siphonophores are an Order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the Phylum Cnidaria - the same biological group as the common blubber jellyfish, box jellyfish, and even corals!
The bluebottle was only recently recognised as the same species as the Portuguese Man of War found in the Atlantic (Physalia physalis). In the Atlantic, Physalia physalis is larger, more venomous, and believed to live for approximately a year.
The bluebottle does not swim, but floats at the ocean’s surface and trails a long, stinging tentacle (sometimes as long as three metres!) below the surface. The tentacle contains lots of ‘nematocysts’, or stinging cells, which are like mini-harpoons all wound up and ready to discharge in case of finding some food – or accidentally someone’s arm or leg!
Bluebottle with long tentacle (Dr Amandine Schaeffer, UNSW, Rainbow Beach)
The gas-filled ‘pneumatophore’ that floats on the ocean surface (ranging from 1-15cm in length) acts as a ‘sail’ that is subject to wind forces. The sail is oriented to the left or right of the body of tentacles, resulting in individual bluebottles being either right-handed or left-handed. Why? Well, since the sail and pneumatophore orientation play a role in determining how bluebottles 'drift', under certain wind directions right and left-handed bluebottles will not all drift in the same direction. This remarkable adaptation ensures that only half the population may end up beached on the shore, while the other half continue out to sea. Nature is truly ingenious!
Left-handed bluebottle pneumatophore (gas-filled float) with sail on the top to catch the wind (Dr Amandine Schaeffer, UNSW, Maroubra Beach)
Want to know more or get involved?
Visit the website to learn more about the project.
We need your help! You can help the project by becoming a BluebottleWatch citizen scientist!
We have created an iNaturalist project to help collate community data at this initial phase of the project. Here we collect photos, locations, counts, and measurements that our citizen scientists upload to the project.
If you see a bluebottle on the beach, first please don’t touch its tentacles! They can still sting you even when they are dead.
Please take a photo and upload it to the iNaturalist platform, ideally from directly above the bluebottle and with an indication of the length of the float/pneumatophore (if you can, include your finger in the photo). If you are really keen, please join our iNaturalist project, where you can add an estimate of the abundance, the size, and even learn how to identify the handedness of the bluebottle (step by step instructions are available in the iNaturalist project).
Check out the citizen science part of the project here.
Worried about being stung by a bluebottle? It can be really painful, but thankfully no bluebottle-related fatalities have been recorded in Australia. Even so, forearmed is forewarned, here is what to do just in case.
Bluebottle First Aid
- Do not allow rubbing of the sting area.
- Adherent blue tentacles may be seen after a sting and are distinctive for Physalia physalis. Carefully remove any adhering tentacles (remember they may still sting you if not all nematocysts have discharged).
- Rinse the area well with sea water (not freshwater).
- Place the affected sting area in hot water - no hotter than the rescuer can comfortably tolerate for 20 minutes.
- If the pain is unrelieved by heat, or if hot water is not available, apply cold packs or ice in a dry plastic bag.
- Send for medical aid if symptoms persist, or if an allergic reaction occurs.
For more information about bluebottles, including how to stay safe at the beach this summer, visit http://beachsafe.org.au
Written by Dr Jaz Lawes (Lead Researcher, Surf Life Saving Australia) and BluebottleWatch team