Dead jellyfish still have venom in their tentacles that can sting on contact.
Even beached or dying jellies can sting. So can pieces of tentacles floating in the water. They can release venom for up to 2 weeks.
Dr. Michael Boniface says that you should never pick up a dead jellyfish. If you see one, avoid one. "Don't ever pick up a dead jellyfish from the beach because it still can potentially be harmful."
When the medusa the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) dies, it sinks to the ocean floor and begins to decay. Amazingly, its cells then reaggregate, not into a new medusa, but into polyps, and from these polyps emerge new jellyfish. The jellyfish has skipped to an earlier life stage to begin again.
As soon as the jellyfish is dropped on the beach by the retreating tide, the jellyfish begins to die. A jellyfish breathes by taking in oxygen from the seawater through its skin so as soon as it is on dry land it can no longer live.
Nature takes care of these dead jellies
“They will get eaten by seagulls, crabs and other scavengers, and whatever is left of it will eventually decompose on the beach,” Chacon said. Cannonball jellyfish are also a favorite food of the endangered leatherback sea turtles.
Be careful around jellies washed up on the sand as some still sting if their tentacles are wet. Tentacles torn off a jellyfish can sting, too. If you are stung, don't rinse with water, which could release more poison. Lifeguards usually give first aid for stings.
Jellyfish sting for the same reason many sharks bite, they bump into something they think might be food and try and eat it. Are jellyfish conscious? Jellyfish have no brains and therefore are not aware of their own existence. So no, while alive they are not “conscious”.
The 'immortal' jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii
To date, there's only one species that has been called 'biologically immortal': the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii. These small, transparent animals hang out in oceans around the world and can turn back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.
On shore, a dead jellyfish may look like a balloon, plastic bag, or shell from far away. Some jellyfish have extremely long tentacles, so if you see anything that could potentially be a jellyfish on the beach, stay far away.
Among the predators of the jellyfish, the following have been identified: ocean sunfish, grey triggerfish, turtles (especially the leatherback sea turtle), some seabirds (such as the fulmars), the whale shark, some crabs (such as the arrow and hermit crabs), some whales (such as the humpbacks).
If you see a jellyfish in the water, stay cool. If possible, swim calmly away from the jellyfish towards shore. If there is no escape, tread slowly and hope that the jellyfish passes you by. Most jellyfish only sting when they are provoked.
Most jellyfish are short lived. Medusa or adult jellyfish typically live for a few months, depending on the species, although some species can live for 2-3 years in captivity. Polyps can live and reproduce asexually for several years, or even decades. One jellyfish species is almost immortal.
Most often jellyfish stings cause instant pain and inflamed marks on the skin. Some stings may cause more whole-body (systemic) illness.
Jellyfish stings leave thousands of very tiny stingers called nematocysts in the skin. These stingers can continue to release (or "fire") jellyfish venom (poison) into the body. Treatment can vary based on the type of jellyfish most common in the area. Often, it's best to rinse a sting with vinegar.
Vinegar inactivates the jelly's nematocysts so they can't fire, which means they won't be able to hurt you any worse. Once you treat the injury with vinegar, you'll still have to remove the stingers with tweezers.
They react differently when external stimuli are applied while sleeping and while awake. But the bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus show the same reaction in both situations. This indicates that bullfrogs do not sleep. Lithobates catesbeianus is an animal that cannot sleep.
Did anyone know that some animals have blue blood, especially when it is exposed to oxygen? Can you guess what animals might have blue blood? Lobsters, crabs, pillbugs, shrimp, octopus, crayfish, scallops, barnacles, snails, small worms (except earthworms), clams, squid, slugs, mussels, horseshoe crabs, most spiders.
Snails have more teeth than any animal.
This is TRUE. A snail's mouth is no larger than the head of a pin, but can have over 25,000 teeth (but these aren't like regular teeth, they are on its tongue).
For scientists, however, jellyfish are fascinating research subjects – they play important roles in the marine ecosystem and are a key source of food for some fish and sea turtles. Some even protect commercially valuable species, such as oysters, from predators.
Though jellyfish do not have a brain, they are incredibly smart and adaptable. For more than 500 million years, they've been bobbing around almost all the world's oceans, both close to the water surface as well as in depths of up 700 meters.
So how do they function without a brain or central nervous system? They have a basic set of nerves at the base of their tentacles which can detect touch, temperature, salinity etc. Since they don't have a brain, they depend on automatic reflexes in response to these stimuli! Catching prey is also a matter of chance.
Jellyfish season in Miami / South Florida can arrive as early as May and can last until October. Usually, they peak in August or September. They are present all year long, but large blooms in warm waters combined with the right currents and wind conditions can bring them in the vicinity of beachgoers.
They are small enough that they often cannot be seen and easily get stuck between the skin and bathing garments. When this happens, they can discharge their nematocysts (part of the tentacles that release venom), essentially causing a jellyfish sting under the swimsuit.