



The gelatinous creatures are relatively common in the ocean along the West Coast, but nobody can remember so many of them floating in bay waters at one time. The critters, known scientifically as Chrysaora fuscescens, are darker and bigger than the Moon or Bell jellies, which are frequently seen in the area.

Alicia Battle, a 47-year-old Castro Valley triathlete, was stung in the face on April 1 during a recreational swim off Treasure Island.

"All of a sudden I felt something kind of strange going on with my face," Battle said. "It started burning from my left eyelid over my cheeks to my lip."

Battle said a painful welt remained on her face for a couple of hours and the burning sensation remained on her lips for four days.

"It was," she said, pausing for emphasis, "uncomfortable."

Sarah Levin, 28, of Berkeley, was a coach on that swim, sponsored by an open water swimming program called Swim Art, when she was stung on the shoulder.

"I'd never been stung before, so it caught me by surprise," said Levin, a member of the South End Rowing Club.

'Very horrifying'

Levin said she tried to ignore the pain because she did not want to alarm the more inexperienced swimmers. Moments later she looked down while treading water and there, between her legs, was a monstrous-looking jellyfish, its long tentacles swaying like ribbons against her inner thighs.

"It was very horrifying, and just as I saw it I felt the pain as it stung my thighs on both sides," said Levin, who related how her legs burned for an hour afterward. "That was the most surreal moment. It was shocking in more ways than one."

Other bay recreationists have reported swarms of jellies bobbing around in the water. Kayakers recently had to push gobs of them out of the way to clear a path for a group of swimmers near Alcatraz, according to several witnesses.

"I personally have not seen a mass influx of Pacific sea nettles in the bay before," said Michael Grassmann, an aquatic biologist for the Aquarium of the Bay, which recently opened an exhibit on the primitive creatures. "It is a little unusual."

Oddly, the aquarium collected a number of specimens out in the ocean in March for the aquarium exhibit. Grassmann, however, dispelled any notion that the bulbous beings might be swarming the bay in search of their comrades.

"They don't have a brain or consciousness. They just have a collection of nerves or ganglion," he said. "They don't sting people because they are angry. They do it out of reflex."

Nutrient-rich water

Marine biologists believe strong coastal upwellings of nutrient-rich water and northwest winds are responsible for the influx of nettles, which usually reside over vast stretches of the Pacific and Indian oceans. The stinging jellies, which can be found floating on the surface or hundreds of feet under the water, are more commonly seen near shore during the fall and winter.

Vast blooms of sea nettles have been known in the past to congregate in one location, sometimes for months at a time, clogging fishing nets and depleting the water of plankton.


"This bloom in the bay may or may not be related to climate change, but it's definitely something to be concerned about," Grassmann said.

Sejal Choksi, the program director for the environmental watchdog group Baykeeper, said there are no plans to remove the jellyfish. Marine biologists expect them to clear out on their own.

The good thing about the surge of stinging jellyfish in San Francisco Bay, according to Grassmann and other biologists, is that endangered leatherback sea turtles love to eat them. After nursing their wounds, Battle and Levin may now get a chance to swim with feasting turtles.

The Pacific sea nettle

Pacific sea nettles have become popular aquarium exhibits because they are large, colorful and poisonous. The jellyfish, known scientifically as Chrysaora fuscescens, was first successfully cultured on a large scale by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where it remains a popular exhibit.

With a golden bell and undulating red tentacles, nettles are beautiful in captivity, but in the wild they can deliver a painful sting, even after they are dead. The effect of the sting on humans varies, depending on skin sensitivity, but it is rarely serious.

Treatment for a sting:

-- Rub vinegar on the wound. The acidity counteracts the venom.

-- Lacking vinegar, wash the wound with sea water. Do not use fresh water or bottled water unless it is scalding hot. It will increase the pain.

-- If none of the above works, use urine. It is an old sailor adage, but pee is free and it supposedly works.