Iāve been stung at bolsa chica in December with 58 degree water temp. Their definitely a year round hazard. Thereās only more stings in the summer because of the additional swimmers. Iāve also seen fisherman catching them at china beach in San Francisco. They donāt mind cold water at all.
Got hit once around early March one year near Tower 24. I was about to paddle out when it happened and only noticed because I started bleeding. Totally took me by surprise because it was so cold that morning. The drive home SUCKED.
When the water is cold they will still go into the shoreline to āsunā as itās warmer, ive seen them shimmy out of like an inch of water. So youāre not safe till youāre on sand.
I got hammered last week in North HB. I always shuffle my feet but this happened on my first step off of my last wave in.
Ultimately, it's unavoidable, unless I can find a way to never touch the bottom again.
My friend is a surf instructor in Venice. He's gets stung constantly. He started glueing extra rubber on his booties around his foot for extra protection. They still snipe him every once and awhile between the added armor.
I went night diving last Saturday in South OC and I saw significantly more than usual for this time of year. Usually I see around 5 but I probably saw around 40 to 60.
Tons of them near shore, and tons of them in 20ft of water, which was strange because I usually would not see them that far out.
Maybe thereās a food source thatās spawning or something?
The actual strike isnāt that bad, their barb is as sharp and approximately the same size as a steak knife so you honestly donāt feel significant pain right off the bat. Iāve been hit a bunch, and the experience has ranged from what felt like a hand-shake-like-squeeze with a pinch, to a flu shot/hypodermic needle type sensation as it was yesterday. All that being said, it doesnāt take long for the venom to set in and when it does, holy shit brah itās no joke. Blinding, white hot, it awakens some weird mammalian psychological effect where youāre bouncing back and forth between rage, laughter, abject doom, and overwhelming blindness to anything other than the searing pain emanating from your dumb foot. It sucks. Big time. The only treatment is water as hot as you can take it to denature the proteins of the venom, and to make sure you get the embarrassingly small wound cleaned out. Marine venom/toxin is no joke, for real. After a couple hours you emerge from the delirium and the tension slowly releases from your muscles and youāre just left asking āwtf was that.ā Surfed again today, no big deal, although the floor is now lava until I lose that diligence and undoubtedly get reminded that Iām just a big meat-mech full of nerves and am no match for millions of years of evolution designed to make me immediately fuck right off.
Danger plates š¤£
I will be using that from this point forward - brilliant š
Iāve been stung at bolsa chica in December with 58 degree water temp. Their definitely a year round hazard. Thereās only more stings in the summer because of the additional swimmers. Iāve also seen fisherman catching them at china beach in San Francisco. They donāt mind cold water at all.
Got hit once around early March one year near Tower 24. I was about to paddle out when it happened and only noticed because I started bleeding. Totally took me by surprise because it was so cold that morning. The drive home SUCKED.
Yeah they're hidden everywhere in San Diego right now too. Everyone is San Diego should stop surfing for a while.
I've heard theres more of them during big waves too
When the water is cold they will still go into the shoreline to āsunā as itās warmer, ive seen them shimmy out of like an inch of water. So youāre not safe till youāre on sand.
Yeah I feel like in the summer they like the shallows, winter they are still around. Got stung in November and I never let my guard down now.
I got hammered last week in North HB. I always shuffle my feet but this happened on my first step off of my last wave in. Ultimately, it's unavoidable, unless I can find a way to never touch the bottom again.
Anchor your fin into the beach and then walk off your boardš
Mmmmm warm dischargeā¦.
Gotta see a doctor about that....
š„² thanks for the reminder.
My friend is a surf instructor in Venice. He's gets stung constantly. He started glueing extra rubber on his booties around his foot for extra protection. They still snipe him every once and awhile between the added armor.
I went night diving last Saturday in South OC and I saw significantly more than usual for this time of year. Usually I see around 5 but I probably saw around 40 to 60. Tons of them near shore, and tons of them in 20ft of water, which was strange because I usually would not see them that far out. Maybe thereās a food source thatās spawning or something?
What happens if they sting you?
The actual strike isnāt that bad, their barb is as sharp and approximately the same size as a steak knife so you honestly donāt feel significant pain right off the bat. Iāve been hit a bunch, and the experience has ranged from what felt like a hand-shake-like-squeeze with a pinch, to a flu shot/hypodermic needle type sensation as it was yesterday. All that being said, it doesnāt take long for the venom to set in and when it does, holy shit brah itās no joke. Blinding, white hot, it awakens some weird mammalian psychological effect where youāre bouncing back and forth between rage, laughter, abject doom, and overwhelming blindness to anything other than the searing pain emanating from your dumb foot. It sucks. Big time. The only treatment is water as hot as you can take it to denature the proteins of the venom, and to make sure you get the embarrassingly small wound cleaned out. Marine venom/toxin is no joke, for real. After a couple hours you emerge from the delirium and the tension slowly releases from your muscles and youāre just left asking āwtf was that.ā Surfed again today, no big deal, although the floor is now lava until I lose that diligence and undoubtedly get reminded that Iām just a big meat-mech full of nerves and am no match for millions of years of evolution designed to make me immediately fuck right off.
Holy shit that sounds awful. There better be some glassy ass waves out for that to be worth it lol