Springtime comes to Florida ... and Sea Lice?

[ricki]

and here I had almost forgotten the last bout of sea lice from last fall. Well spring's here and despite my conclusion about sea lice being something new that came about in the 1980's an article posted by Skyway Scott says it isn't so. Apparently, there have been accounts going back at least to the early 1900's.

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

Contrary to what the article points out, it seems like we have more abundant sea lice for a few weeks in the spring and then again in the fall off the SE coast. In some years one or the other time frame may be fairly free of the little buggers.

Anyway, it's that time again so have a care. An exerpt from Scott's article appears below:

"PREVENTION:

Outbreaks of seabather's eruption occur intermittently between March and August, but they appear to peak during early April through early July. There have been many days when no infestations have occurred. Beach goers need to listen to local beach reports and observe daily posted beach messages in affected areas. The following recommendations may also help in minimizing the number of stings:


Each beach goer needs to assess his or her individual risk of an immune response. Persons with a history of a severe reaction should confine their beach activities to land, or use pool facilities instead, during outbreaks.

Swimmers should avoid wearing T-shirts while in the ocean. Use of a topical sunscreen and limiting sun exposure protects against solar injury. There is some evidence that use of a topical sunscreen or suntan lotion may actually protect skin from penetration by the nematocysts.

Women should consider two-piece instead of one-piece bathing suits, to reduce the surface area of swimwear that could trap larvae. It is possible that smooth, tight weave bathing suits may trap fewer larvae than suits with an open-weave fabric.

After ocean exposure, swimmers need to change out of their bathing suits as soon as possible after exiting from the water. Most lesions have occurred from contact with contaminated swimwear. Removal of possibly contaminated swimwear, followed by a shower to rinse off loose larvae, should limit the number of stings. If showers are in a public area, it is suggested that people bring a second suit to the beach; after removing the first, possibly contaminated suit, they can don the second suit and then shower. Showering with fresh water while still wearing a contaminated bathing suit could cause discharge of nematocysts trapped in the fabric of the suit.

Bathing suits should be thoroughly washed with detergent and heat-dried after use. Some have experienced a recurrence of symptoms when wearing suits that had only been air-dried. Air-dried nematocysts still have the potential to fire. A person who has had a severe reaction may be wise to discard the infested suit."