Holidaymakers flocking to the Bay’s beaches to enjoy the sun, sand and surf could also meet some unpopular local residents — the Mount Mauler and sea lice.
Last summer, a spate of Mount Mauler and sea lice attacks at the beach led to Tauranga pharmacies running out of treatments for the bites.
Local pharmacists and Surf Life Saving New Zealand last month shared their advice for avoiding these creepy crawlies and, if all else fails, for treating the reddish bumps they leave behind on the skin.
Sea lice are actually thimble jellyfish larvae. Their stings can cause Sea Bather’s Eruption, an itchy rash that appears soon after swimming in the sea.
Mount Maulers, meanwhile, look like translucent maggots and are actually in the larval stage of small flies called phycosecis limbata.
The maulers move quickly across the body, covering a person’s skin in extremely itchy bites that can lead to sleepless nights. In some cases, the bites could also require medical treatment.
Last month, Unichem Excelsa Pharmacy Papamoa pharmacist Michaela Creighton said beachgoers had been through the pharmacy looking for insect bite treatments.
“We get them quite often this time of year.
“For most people, we’d recommend getting a soothing gel that has a numbing agent and an antiseptic.”
Creighton said if someone was experiencing a stronger reaction to an insect bite they might want to try an antihistamine.
“Keep an eye on it and keep it from getting infected.”
Life Pharmacy Whakatāne pharmacist Gerry Don said he hadn’t seen many customers about insect bites yet but it was still early in the season.
“The last couple of summers we have people coming in talking about the maulers and the sea lice.”
Don recommended soothing lotions to help the itch.
“Sometimes [the lotions] have got some antibacterial treatment in them that can help to stop scratching and stop them from getting infected.”
Don said common insects that could bother beachgoers were sand fleas often referred to as the Mount Mauler, sand flies and sea lice.
“The sea lice bites can cause an itchy, irritated rash in some cases. It’s really just a matter of rinsing off if there’s an outdoor shower handy.”
A pharmacist at Maunganui Road Pharmacy, Pria Singh, said at the moment she was seeing “no more than the usual” number of people coming through with bites from the beach.
“It’s as expected at this time of year. There haven’t been too many but we’ve just started with the summer temperatures and it’s not been the greatest weather in the past couple of weeks.”
Singh said using bug spray was always a good place to start if beachgoers wanted to avoid getting bitten.
“I believe the Mount Maulers really like the dry sand and that’s something people want to be careful of. So put the towels out and sit on your towels.
“But if you do get bitten we have some stuff here to help you with that.”
After a warning for sea lice in Whangamatā was issued by Safeswim last month, Surf Life Saving New Zealand eastern region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell told RNZ “lots of people had been reporting getting bitten”.
“There’s not a lot of free beach spaces in Whangamatā, which is causing people to find the nearest possible beaches to sit on. That can be often quite dangerous.”
Gibbons-Cambell told RNZ that while sea lice were annoying, the main concern of Surf Life Saving was the safety of swimmers.
“The lifeguards at Whangamatā have been busy with rescues in the water and assisting people out of prominent rips along the beach.
“If you can, sit below the high tide mark and you’ll get less [lice] annoying you.”
Source: Ministry of Health