BajaNomad

Bahia Concepcion- Sea Lice?

rivergirl - 11-19-2004 at 01:17 PM

Going on our 5th Baja adventure just before Chirstmas for a month.:D
I read something on the board about Sea lice.... I just have to ask... What are they? WHat do they do? and how do you get rid of them?

ALso wanted to thank everyone for there great posts, its been a few years sense I have posted anything on a Baja board but I check all the time! ;D

69 - 11-19-2004 at 01:32 PM

Sea lice live on the beach and grow to about 1 and 1/2 inches long. They like to burrow under your skin and lay eggs which take about 6 months to pupate and hatch. Once they hatch the host human can no longer drink beer, which seems to attract the adult sea lice in the first place.

:o:P:lol::spingrin:

Heh.

DanO - 11-19-2004 at 03:20 PM

I wish that explanation was true, because it is so frickin' funny.

Apparently, "sea lice" is a term used to describe a skin condition called "Sunbather's Eruption" (I've had that occur before, but it wasn't a skin condition, if you catch my drift). This is a rash caused by stings from tiny jellyfish larvae who get stuck in your bathing suit or hair. Never heard of this occuring in Baja -- the website below indicates it occurs in Florida.

http://www.fau.edu/safe/sea-lice.html

If those are the same things

jrbaja - 11-19-2004 at 04:29 PM

there seems to be plenty of them in the Sea of Cortez lately as well.
The good part is, there are suits you can wear and they aren't that bad anyway.

You will hear many ideas on cures but what I always use is HOT water poured over inflicted area (usualy arms and legs) but possible in any exposed areas (forehead) when snorkeling.
Fixed in 15 minutes- half an hour while rinsing the salt out of your mouth with a Pacifico!

Bruce R Leech - 11-19-2004 at 04:36 PM

Don't Forget the Pacifico!

elizabeth - 11-19-2004 at 05:10 PM

Here are the facts...mostly what you get in the Sea of Cortez are just little jellyfish...not the larvae of thimble jellyfish that is relatively common on the Caribbean side...no matter what...it's always a good idea to wear a lycra dive skin.

Ask DAN (The Diver's Alert Network)


Page 4 of 4
Sea Bather's Eruption
July 2004

Q: What should I do when I get a case of sea bather's eruption?

A: Sea bather's eruption, popularly but incorrectly known as "sea lice," can occur when the larvae of jellyfish come in contact with skin. Common signs include intensely itchy skin eruptions with small blisters and elevated areas of skin. Found primarily on body parts covered by swimwear, these lesions may also appear on the armpits, neck, arms and legs.

The primary offenders in Florida and Caribbean waters are the larvae of the thimble jellyfish, Linuche unguiculata. These larvae, generally half a millimeter long, can find their way into bathing suits and become trapped against the skin, where they sting. The larvae become nearly invisible in the water. The best method of identifying when the larvae are about is simply by the appearance of the rash on swimmers or divers.

The larvae are most prevalent in the months of April through July. Symptoms usually appear within 24 hours after exposure to the organism and persist for several days. Symptoms may include fever, chills, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

Often the symptoms are very mild, and other causes may be considered or diagnosed incorrectly at first. Many cases of sea bather's eruption clear spontaneously, but others require treatment.

You can prevent sea bather's eruption by wearing a full wetsuit or impermeable dive skin. Snorkelers wearing T-shirts and women wearing one-piece bathing suits are vulnerable because the fabric can trap the stinging larvae against the skin.

After diving or swimming in an area where jellyfish larvae are present, remove your wetsuit, dive skin or bathing suit before showering, because fresh water may discharge the nematocysts trapped in the fabric. There have been reports of the condition recurring when the same bathing suit is worn again, suggesting that the larvae may remain in clothing.

bajabum - 11-19-2004 at 07:57 PM

Sea lice are nothing to worry about......go,swim,snorkel and have fun.

Packoderm - 11-19-2004 at 10:52 PM

Bajabum, are you sure that they don't have to worry about sea lice; maybe you meant seal ice - that they don't have to worry about seal ice.

See Alice?

David K - 11-19-2004 at 11:52 PM

No, no... don't worry if you see Alice. Alice won't mind!

Or, was that if you 'see a lice'? Don't worry if you see a lice... or is it louse?

sea ice

gringorio - 11-20-2004 at 07:29 AM

Well, I thought I would look into what is a sea lice. This is what I found:

What are sea lice? Crustaceans parasites belonging to the copepoda in the family Caligidae. Lepeophtheirus salmonis (salmon louse) and Caligus elongatus causing the greatest problem, especially serious is L. salmonis.

C.teres causes serious problems on Atlantic salmon in Chile.
(the term "sea lice" has also been applied to ?seabather?s eruption? caused by the larval form of Linuche unquiculata or thimble jellyfish, in Florida).

Geographic Distribution: Lepeophtheirus salmonis (salmon louse) - temperate climates in the Northern Hemisphere; Caligus elongatus - globally; C. orientalis - Japan; C. teres - Chile, C. longicaudatus - New Zealand; C. clemensis and L. cuneifer - Canadian Pacific.

from: http://www.umaine.edu/livestock/Publications/sea_lice_bullet...

Sea Lice-Sand Fleas-No See Ums-JellyFish

Diver - 11-20-2004 at 11:15 AM

After living in Florida for years, you get used to sea lice. The easiest way to make sure you don't get a bunch of the little red, itchy bumps is to rinse with clean water and dry off (remove wet clothes and rinse hair well). Another method if water is sparce is to remove wet clothes and wipe yourself down with a wash rag dipped water with Dr Bonners.
They can really "bug" you if they get in your arm pits and crotch which are the most prevalent spots.

Sand fleas are the sand-living buggers that get your ankles at night on the beach (or the rest of you if you lay down).
Thick socks help.

No-see-ums will get you everywhere.
Thin clothes with Skin-so Soft works well.

None of these buggers will kill you but some outmeal or cortizone itch cream always helps.

We always carry Adolph's Meat Tenderizer for Jellyfish stings when we dive. It helps a bit within a 5-10 minutes.
Papaya juice or any similar acid/enzyme type liquds. (Urine helps if you have nothing else).

Sea Lice, Sea Wasps, "Swimmer's Itch", etc...

Cameron - 11-20-2004 at 02:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Diver
After living in Florida for years, you get used to sea lice. The easiest way to make sure you don't get a bunch of the little red, itchy bumps is to rinse with clean water and dry off (remove wet clothes and rinse hair well). Another method if water is sparce is to remove wet clothes and wipe yourself down with a wash rag dipped water with Dr Bonners.
They can really "bug" you if they get in your arm pits and crotch which are the most prevalent spots.


I've found that "sea lice", "sea wasps", tiny jellyfish, and miscellaneous cases of "swimmer's itch" can appear in just about any body of water, fresh or salt, that's above freezing all year long.

With the exception of the various species of jellyfish, most of the symptoms associated with exposure to 80% of the other "itchy things" can be avoided by rinsing off after exposure with clean, fresh water and VIGOROUSLY towelling dry afterwards.

For treatment of jellyfish stings, there's always the meat tenderized trick, and for some reason, people love to relate stories of peeing on each other, but there are a couple of commercially-prepared topical lotions available which do a much better job of taking the sting out. If you're all out of the lotion, are a vegetarian, and all peed out, you can apply ammonia directly to the skin with a cotton ball. Some people are very sensitive to the Ammonia, so try a small area first if you haven't been exposed to it before.

In my experience, most of the critters known as "sea wasps" or "sea lice" found in the Pacific and Carribean tend to be concentrated at or near the surface, ("Sea wasps" will swarm under lights at night too...) so scuba divers can minimize exposure by making a fast entry/exit. Other folks won't be so lucky, but as noted above, the use of a "dive skin"/lycra suit will help out a lot. When I'm surfing, I found that a thick gel sunblock like Bullfrog or Aloe Gator on exposed skin helps a lot with the little jellyfish (They're both similar to thick Vaseline in consistency.).

gringorio - 11-20-2004 at 06:11 PM

For some great fun go to Google/Images and type in 'sea lice'

http://images.google.com/images?q=sea%20lice&hl=en&lr=&safe=...