Health hazards at Florida beaches - and how to survive them.
The PR- money from BP has run out and hotel owners and others complain that we need more funds to market the Florida beaches as clean from oil. It has been reported a 10% loss of hotel reservations along the Florida's west coast due to the fear that oil will eventually hit the Florida Gulf Coast. There are other health hazards on Florida beaches though such as sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, sunburns, sea lice, red tide, rip currents. lightning and water quality. Education is the best defence against harm from the Florida Beach Hazards!
There are plenty of sharks in the waters along the Florida coasts. It seems like surfers are the biggest group of victims for shark bites, probably because they get further out in the waters and maybe because the underside of the surf board might look like a seal or a smaller fish. Normally sharks avoid people and the few deadly attacks have occured in murky waters where the shark has Very few of the reported shark attacks lead to fatalities though and in the crowded waters at the most popular beaches, there is a very little risk for a shark attack. Most public beaches have life guards that monitor the wild life such as sharks, jellyfish and stingrays.
Some jellyfish are not harmful but some might sting and cause a rash and pain, there are also jellyfish that can cause death by an allergic reaction to their sting. A few years ago my daughter was stung by a jellyfish at Clearwater Beach, it was a very painful sting and she had quite a rash for a week. Pay attention when you are in the Florida waters and stay away from everything you see in the waters and, whatever you do, do not touch anything you cannot identify, even if it looks as spectacular as a Portuguese Man-of-War.
After a few years in Florida you have adopted the stingray shuffle when you walk into the water. The stingray shuffle is to walk by not lifting your feet but shuffle them through the sand, in this way you scare off the stingrays and minimize the risk of being of surprising the animal that is normally buried under the sand waiting for its prey. The stingrays have a barb at the end of their tail that can cause a very painful sting and in some cases bad infections. If you get stung by a stingray soak the wound in as hot water as you can stand for 60 to 90 seconds, if you get stung in the chest or abdomen you should get medical help as soon as possible. If you are on a beach that has life guards, contact them immediately they know how to treat wounds and they can alert other swimmers.
Sea lice is an Atlantic coast problem in Florida. The sea lice is really a larvae of the Thimble jellyfish and when it gets stuck between the body and the bathing suit the larvae will sting and cause rashes that might not go away for weeks. If you think you have been stung by sea lice do shower and rub the rashes with rubbing alcohol or diluted vinegar. Hydrocortison lotion might also help.
The Ultraviolet Index,UV index, is a daily prediction for the quantity of dangerous ultraviolet radiation. High UV-index should be expected in conditions such as sun high in sky, clear skies and low ozones oeverhead. Florida has normally much much higher UV-index than the Scandinavian countries and it is very importand to protect the body from to much sun exposure. Use plenty of sun block, always bring sunglasses a sunhat and an umbrella to the beach. Also note that the reflection from the surface will intensify the UV-index, water has a 5-7% reflection while sand has a 20 - 30% reflection. So if you are on the white sand beached on the Gulf Coast in the midst of the summer you can easily be sunburned if you do not pay attention. Today the UV index in Tampa is 7 which is in the range of high exposure level. So if I want to spend time outdoors today I should wear sunscreen, SPF 15, a hat, sunglasses (to prevent cataract), cover my body, seek shade, and limit time in the sun during the midday (10 am to 4 pm) hours.
Rip currents are caused under certain beach, surf and tide conditions, the rip current can pull the swimmer out to the sea hundreds of yards from the beach. Most drowning accidents connected to rip currents is that the swimmer gets exhausted from fighting the tide and does not have the energy to swim back to the beach once he is out of the current. Not all rip currents are easily detected for the untrained eye, however there are some signs of rip currents to be aware of such as a channel of churning, choppy water, a line of foam, seaweed or debris moving steadily seawards or a break in the incoming wave pattern.
Rip current. Photo from NOAA.
How to escape a rip current. Illustration from NOAA.
If you would be caught in a rip current, it is important to stay calm and not try to swim or fight against the current. Stay afloat and try to swim out of the current following the shoreline, or if the current is to strong, float or thread water until you are out of the current and then swim towards the beach.
The red tide is caused by heavy blooming of the algae Karenia brevis. The red tide kills fish, contaminate shellfish and causes severe respiratory irritations to humans that are in or near contaminated waters. The best advice on how to deal with red tide is to stay away from affected areas.
Thunder and lightning caused an impressive performance when it comes rolling on towards the beach, but make sure to leave the beach as soon as you hear thunder and lighning and watch it from a safe distance. Floridians always leave the beach immediately when thunder and lightning approach, trust the locals, you do not want to be on the beach during a thunderstorm. The locals know that lighning can strike up to 25 miles from where the thunderstorm originates so do not wait until the last minute. Three years ago me and my daughter left the beach when a big thunderstorm rolled in, behind us we saw a group of people in the water, amongst them a young, pregnant woman. The next day we read in the paper that this woman and two of her friends where killed in the water during that particular thunderstorm.
Everything you want to know about shark attacks in Florida and how to prevent them: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/isaf.htm
An excellent collection of jellyfish photos and info can be found here: http://www.beachhunter.net/thingstoknow/jellyfish/index.htm
Everything you want to know about UV here: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/uv_information.shtml
The red tide alliance: http://www.redtideonline.com/
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