Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Editorial: Seeing red over bluebottles on Northland's coast

By Craig Cooper
Editor·Northern Advocate·
20 Feb, 2018 05:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Blue bottle jellyfish can be recognised by their blue flotation bladder, and should be avoided.

Blue bottle jellyfish can be recognised by their blue flotation bladder, and should be avoided.

The bluebottle jellyfish that have washed up on Northland's east coast deserve respect.

Their jelly-like remnants are attractive to children, and possibly inquisitive pets tracking their noses across the sand.

Internet research suggests little more than an inconvenient sting, but my personal experience suggests humans should steer well clear.

Read more: More bluebottles stranding on west coast of Northland, Niwa says

Some years back, our then 5-year-old poked a stick at some washed up blue bottles on a beach, then drew it toward his face, peering curiously at the cobalt jelly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We stopped him, more because of general parental wariness than being aware of the full extent of the bluebottle's painful capabilities.

We were lucky we did, based on what we would come to learn.

Unbeknown to us, a local hospital emergency department doctor also walked the beach that day and observed the poisonous jellyfish.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He and our son met the next day, after the 5-year-old ran gleefully into the beach's full tide shallows, into a bluebottle swarm.

We carried him, screaming, back to the bach we were staying in, and held him, not quite knowing what to do.

He soon suffered the indignity of having urine poured on his legs, which were flecked with blue jelly and red welts.

It didn't help. So water was poured on his legs and he was delivered to the hospital.

The screaming stopped just as he was carried through the automatic sliding doors, and the doctor who treated him shook his head and tut-tutted - we had not been the only case that day.

Hot water eased the stings - urine can make them worse.

The water should be as hot as the patient can bear it, we were told. (Don't use vinegar either, it can make the stings worse).

Do yourself a favour and stay well clear.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Grieving mum speaks of 3-year-old's death for the first time

Northern Advocate

News in brief: 64 sika deer culled in Russell Forest deer eradication project

Northern Advocate

'You should know better': Grandmother jailed for trying to derail son's family violence case


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Grieving mum speaks of 3-year-old's death for the first time
Northern Advocate

Grieving mum speaks of 3-year-old's death for the first time

Northland mum Tyla Simona wants no one else to suffer as she has.

15 Jul 05:00 PM
News in brief: 64 sika deer culled in Russell Forest deer eradication project
Northern Advocate

News in brief: 64 sika deer culled in Russell Forest deer eradication project

15 Jul 03:00 PM
'You should know better': Grandmother jailed for trying to derail son's family violence case
Northern Advocate

'You should know better': Grandmother jailed for trying to derail son's family violence case

15 Jul 06:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP