{"id":46075,"date":"2026-04-09T21:33:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=46075"},"modified":"2026-04-09T21:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:33:27","slug":"stinging-portuguese-man-o-war-are-invading-beaches-extremely-painful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=46075","title":{"rendered":"Stinging Portuguese man o&#8217; war are invading beaches: &#8216;Extremely painful&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Portuguese man o\u2019 war has been making its presence known on beaches from Texas to Florida, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/lifestyle\/spring-sting-florida-beach-how-portuguese-jellyfish\">Fox Weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The small but dangerous sea creature \u2014 which is known for its long tentacles and polyps that extend up to 100 feet, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/news\/2026\/04\/rare-sea-creatures-with-painful-sting-washing-ashore-on-alabama-beach.html\">AL.com<\/a>, and can deliver a painful sting even weeks after they\u2019ve washed ashore \u2014 has also been seen on Fort Morgan, Alabama, beaches, where meteorologist Caroline Carithers took a photo of one.<\/p>\n<p>Carithers has been seeing them wash up \u201call week,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wkrg.com\/baldwin-county\/portuguese-man-o-war-alabama\/\">News WKRG5<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The man o\u2019war is typically found in subtropical seas and can end up on Gulf Coast shores \u2014 and even on the Southeast coast of the US.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Portuguese man o\u2019 war is showing up on Gulf Coast beaches. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Pensacola Beach, lifeguards recently warned beachgoers of the nearby stinging marine life by flying both small red and purple flags, which were also meant to alert swimmers to dangerous conditions on the water.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cPlease don\u2019t touch or pick up these organisms \u2014 their sting is extremely painful!\u201d the lifeguards wrote on nearby signage.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Seek medical attention if accidentally stung. <span class=\"credit\">Hindustan Times via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>These nearly translucent blue, violet and pink-colored colored creatures are often confused with jellyfish due to their ethereal appearance and similar balloon-like float, which can rise six inches above the waterline. But they actually belong to a species of siphonophore, which is comprised of a colony of genetically identical individuals called zooids (clones) that work in uniform, each with different roles, per the <a href=\"https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/facts\/portuguese-man-o-war.html\">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Per NOAA, man o\u2019 war has four specialized parts that cover the tasks of floating, taking prey, eating and reproducing.<\/p>\n<p>While their sting uses tentacles to kill small fish and crustaceans with the nematocysts \u2014 microscopic capsules packed with venomous, coiled, barbed tubes \u2014 it is rarely fatal to humans. The welts it causes on exposed skin and the painful, burning sensation are not exactly what most would prefer while taking a relaxing stroll on the beach.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>On Pensacola Beach, lifeguards recently warned beachgoers of the nearby stinging marine life. <span class=\"credit\">Pensacola Beach Lifeguards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The sea creature gets its distinctive name for its aesthetic similarity to an 18th-century Portuguese warship.<\/p>\n<p>In the event of an accidental sting, the afflicted should seek immediate medical attention. If planning to visit beaches along the Gulf Coast, keep an eye out for the creatures and admire them \u2014 just from a distance.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/09\/science\/stinging-portuguese-man-o-war-are-invading-beaches-extremely-painful\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Portuguese man o\u2019 war has been making its presence known on beaches from Texas to Florida, as reported by Fox Weather. The small but dangerous&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}