India Today
A man escaped death after he licked a ‘slimy’ creature which he found on a beach, unaware that it is deadly and could have killed him.
Posting a video of himself, the man, who goes by the name of Alexa_reed2, shows the sea animal which washed ashore, on camera.
The creature, which is called floating terror, has a transparent balloon-like float and blue colouring, as well as long strands of tentacles coming off the bottom. Mistaking it for a jellyfish, the man picks it up and starts playing with it.
“Look guys, a jellyfish is still here,” he was quoted by Times Now as saying in the video. He says the creature is cold and said, “I’m going to pick it up.”
Pinching the creature between his fingers, he further said, “This is how it looks like. Yes, it’s a jellyfish, look how big it is. And it’s still moving, oh my god, I’m going to lick it.”
Netizens replied to the man saying he was lucky to survive and the venom of the floating terror or Portuguese Man O’ War can cause “excruciating pain for up to three days”.
A Tiktoker by the name of Mndiaye_97 replied to the man’s post, saying, “That is not a jellyfish, it’s a Portuguese Man O’ War, also known as the bluebottle, also known as the floating terror. It’s a species of siphonophore armed with millions of explosive stinging cells powerful enough to make Nemo an orphan and occasionally turn a person into past tense.”
“This Man O’ War is responsible for up to 10,000 stings a year in Australia alone and the venom can cause excruciating pain for up to three days, leaving a nasty, whip-like welt as a souvenir. But honestly, you’re lucky if that’s all you get because the venom can trigger an allergic-like reaction that results in throat-swelling, heart issues and difficulty breathing, as you suffocate, possibly to death,” they were quoted as saying.
They added, “And fun fact, not only can they write your obituary days, even tentacles that have been separated from its body contain enough venom to incapacitate you.”
“Getting stung by a Man O’ War is nowhere near a death sentence. Most of the time if treated quickly, it’s very survivable. But even though being put in a coffin by one is rare, the agonising pain that comes with it might make you wish it wasn’t,” they said.
This Story First Appeared At India Today
