More than 100 swimmers were stung today while a 50 pound lion’s mane jellyfish lurked the waters of Wallis Sands Beach at Rye. Ken Loughlin, manager of the Park, closed the beach as a result.
Medical responders feared severe allergic reactions, but the Portsmouth Regional Hospital reported no serious injuries of the five children taken by ambulance. According to rescue officials, the stings felt like bee stings.
“They were terrified,” Alysia Bennett of Hampstead, New Hampshire said, referring to her three children, who she took to the beach for a swim. All of her children came running out of the water at the same time, crying.
Loughlin described the jellyfish as being as big as a turkey platter. Although jellyfish are common in New England waters, aquarist Robert Royer of the Seacoast Science Center says that he’s never heard of them getting to 50 pounds.
“That’s the largest we have around here,” he says. The tentacles, 100 feet long, are lined with barbs and can continue to sting even after the jellyfish dies.
Lifeguards found the jellyfish dead and pulled it out of the water with a pitchfork. A mass of 50 children ran to shore, screaming and complaining of stinging.
“I’ve never seen such a thing,” Loughlin said.
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