Tuesday 25th August, 2009

Science or Scam - Anti-jellyfish lotion

The appearance of a Portuguese Man O' War at a local beach, lead me to look into ways of protecting against this venomous sea creature and stinging jellyfish. I found a product called Safe Sea Lotion which claims to guard against stings. However the website looks rather dubious and I don't know enough about biology to know whether or not their claims are plausable. What do you think?

"Jellyfish sting by coming into contact with your skin, which triggers the firing of "nematocysts," which are like tiny little harpoons that inject jellyfish venom into your skin... Safesea has ingredients to prevent the nematocysts from firing when they touch your skin."

Fact or fantasy?

And if it does work, would it also guard against a Portuguese Man O' War? Despite their wobbly appearance, they are not actually a jellyfish.

Photo by Jessica Mansford

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