Could someone please please post a picture of one of these things are or they really as common as Unicorns??

I for one would just love to know what they look like BEFORE I bump into one

Thank you

david

Here you go, photo taken by the wonderful Tish Dace.

http://www.littlebrothermedia.com/photos/banded_box04.jpg

Here, here, also is Tish's picture (digitized by 'our own' Linda Richter and courtesy of Tish):

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Here, here (again. I hope), also is Tish's picture (digitized by 'our own' Linda Richter and courtesy of Tish):



A good 'diver's eye' view!

(Message edited by glenr on August 27, 2006)

Ok, I'm not the most technically savvy person, so when you say digitized do you mean enhanced, or do you just mean that a paper photo has been made into a digital file?? If it has been enhanced, can the "original" please be posted?

Does anyone know how deep this jelly was when the picture was taken?
Thanks!

tish said she was snorkeling at windsock 14 years ago when she took the photo, so it's pretty safe to assume it's not very deep. the photo in the link that tim posted is the original that she sent us. i'm assuming it was scanned from a paper photo.

Scanned or not at some point along the line someone attempted to adjust the colors and over did it a little. That's why the red spots are there in the upper right of the photo and the tentacles look unnatural.

What I'm wonder about is what size this critter is? I'm guessing less than an inch or two, maybe even less, but there's nothing in the photo to give it scale. I'm also curious if these tend to be found all by themselves or if they tend to come in numbers? Also, when is the most likely time of year to find them?

My wife and I ran into a number of little jellies getting in the water at Front Porch last year. She got stung on the lip and chin but it was nothing more than a minor irritation that went away within a couple of minutes so obviously those weren't of the BBBJ variety but they were very small, less than an inch long. They had the classic shape of a box jelly with the four white-ish tentacles, one from each corner of a relatively square transparent bell, and there were a lot of them in one small localized area.

(Message edited by jim_peters on August 28, 2006)

This is the link that Jake posted in the snorkeling thread (see snorkeling: Bonairean Banded Box Jelly). These photos are of a BBBJ that was captured recently. In the 2nd photo, you will see a finger, which should give you an idea of its size.

http://blog.richterscale.org/index.php/gallery_blog/category/C3/

The image posted here by me is different from the one Tish sent me only by being reduced in pixel count for the Web.

'Digitized' means scanned from a slide, negative or paper print to make a digital file; I believe Linda has the capability for all three. The red spots may be artifacts from the scanning; they are in the file sent me by Tish.

The vivid color may be from some enhancement or simply could be from a flash used in shallow water on a sunny day: the appearance of the B3J lends credence to that conclusion.

The assumption of 'enhancement' in every digital picture is best left for looking at pics in the MSM.

For size: they are only a few inches long unless the tentacles change length as they do on the Portugese Man of War. See Jake's posting:

http://blog.richterscale.org/index.php/gallery_blog/category/C3/

The second photo from the left has Linda's finger in it for scale, and to hold the still swimming B3J for the camera:

I changed the title of this thread, to avoid confusion.

Thanks for the link Jenny. These guys are larger than I first thought. That I suppose is good news because it gives us a better chance of seeing them first.

Glen,

My "assumption" is based on experience in digital editing of UW photos. The red "artifacts" as you call them are a common result from trying to enhance color in a washed out photo and going a little too far. But thank you anyway.

Thanks for the explanation... it just looked so "electric" that I wanted to be sure it was really that obvious in the water.

I got a message from Tish earlier tonight. she said another BBBJ was captured at the Divi. She tried to preserve it for Bud but a jelly-fish-rights activist (or other person concerned about the BBBJ's death) took it from her & set it free up north in the park. she said someone did manage to get some pictures, which we will hopefully get to see soon. Personally, I find it scary that they seem to be occurring all over now, especially since i have a more severe reaction to jelly stings than most people. it makes me want to put on my 8 mil!

I am posting to confirm that I personally spotted the BBBJ twice on the same dive today, at the dive site Front Porch right next to Buddy's dock between 12:30-1:30pm. I was out today with my husband and Menno from Deep Blue View.

We were about to descend when we spotted a box jelly in about 2 feet of water. We all saw the animal and I was sure that I had noticed the orange-brown bands on the 4 tentacles, but Menno wasn't sure. We then dove for about 40 minutes and surfaced near the dock. We discussed the jelly and decided to swim back to our truck below the surface to look out for the jelly. No joke, within 20 seconds at about 4-6 feet of water, the BBBJ swam right past us, moving quickly with two small fish and a jack in tow. We all clearly saw the thing and had adequate time to move out of the way and visually identify it. It is larger than I anticipated (I had seen the pics posted on this site), with white-clear box body and white-clear tentacles (only 4) that are about 10 inches long. The jelly does not fluoresce or "light up" as the pic on this site suggests. The bands are an orange-brown colour.

We surfaced immediately and exited by way of Buddy's dock and notified the dive shop. They didn't seem to believe us. A park ranger then came to Front Porch (on an unrelated matter) and we reported the sighting directly to her. We have also sent an email to the park.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera. Since the BBBJ sightings have been spread out, it is advisable to take precautions wherever you are diving.

Feel free to email if you have questions.

Hmmm...it seems that the BBBJ sightings are definitely off from the 8-10 days after the full moon I've seen reported as typical of other Box jellies. I picked my upcoming trip to be as far away in the moon cycle as possible, but that would be right now in this cycle.

Correction: BBBJ spotted at Bonaire Dive and Adventure dock, *NOT* Buddy's dive dock.

BBBJ Sightings,

Lori.
Thanks for the BBBJ posting. This is the 16th one documented and 14th in the past 5 years. Jake Richter posted his photos on the Snorkeling thread on the same topic. These photos are clearer and close-up of the specimen we hope to get DNA/RNA sequences from. It is a much smaller animal than the one you describe.

Gary.
Box jellies swarming (reproductive parties) are what happens 8 to 10 days after a full moon. Both the "clear species" and BBBJ have been seen in the water throughout the month. I hope you get to see a BBBJ this trip. They are amazing organisms to watch, just keep your distance.

Happy diving,
Bud

My husband, a certified Dive Master spotted a Bonaire Boxed Jellyfish on September 2nd at 4:15 pm right at Harbour Village in 5' of water right off shore.

He started following it for about a minute. The jelly was about 11" long total. It had a translucent body with four brown ringed tenticles that measured 7" long. The jelly swam fast, and did a sharp 90 degree turn - strange for a jelly, but not this species.

My husband thought I was crazy about even worrying about running into one of these jellys prior to coming to Bonaire -but we have been very careful since we started diving by keeping our eyes open for the BBBJ's. It paid off.

We notified the dive shop and warned other divers that were entering the water.

As much of a baby as I am - they won't keep me out of the water, but I am being very cautious. Our dive trip thus far has been nothing short of AMAZING!!!

Jenny and I saw our first B3J today. It was about 5ft. under the surface over what I would guess was about 70ft of water.

We were playing with our new monofins at Oil Slick leap, swimming in the column of bubbles from some divers down below. Jenny was about to dive down again when I spotted it about 6 ft away swimming FAST! towards the column of bubbles. Luckily I had just enough time to grab her by the ankles and pull her back up.

First impression, this is one fast jellyfish. I'm used to seeing jellies floating with the current and generally fairly slow, but this sucker was actively swimming at a nice clip.

It swam into the bubble colum and kept pace, swimming through the bubbles. We didn't stick around long as I wasn't wearing anything but swim trunks and Jenny has a natural flight response to them. Besides, floating in 70ft of blue water with no protection was making me a bit nervous as I tried to keep one eye on that one at the same time looking out for any of its buddies.

Be careful people.

We saw one today at Invisibles, swimming on the bottom on the sand and headed to the surface after a while.

Not a little one, including tentacles about 40 cm/16 inch and indeed swimming fast. Got it on video...when I have time to figure out how to post it here I will do so.

Dénise

What is the recommended care if you get stung by one of these jellies?

Vinegar is what I've always heard. It stop's the nematocytes from firing.

Marge,

More on first aid is posted on BT elsewhere.
Vinegar is a species-specific suggestion for nematocyst inhibition. Box jellies included.
It is not recommended for several other species.
It is also worthy to note that vinegar (US strength, not Dutch industrial strength) only functions to stop more nematocysts from firing, in theory. It does not neutralize venom proteins or stop pain.

Box jelly stings can be quite serious with the greatest danger being allergic reactions and systemic problems.

Bud

I just wanted to make sure Boxed Jellies aren't deadly like they are in Australia. Thanks for the remedy of vinegar for continued stings.

Marge,

Please read through the B3J threads here-- it is not as toxic as the Aussies but... it can cause serious systemic medical problems and anyone stung should be alert for them and at least ready to get attention. Much stronger than common jellies and fire coral.

I confused about treatment. Seems like some are recommending
vinegar, but then others seem to think going to the hospital is important. I'd appreciate clarification if possible. If there are no other symptoms other than local pain, is it really necessary to go to the hospital?

8 weeks and counting

thanks
Nell

Confused also, be there in mid-Oct and would like a little clarification on BBJ treatment. I have the vinegar, how about the rubbing alcohol treatment?

Also, I have read the tentacles should be removed immdiately, I presume to stop the nemas from firing, which would mean the vinegar and the removal would achieve the same results. Input welcome.....

I've been following this thread for a while and would like a little clarification: B3J's are very very rare on Bonaire correct? We are returning to Bonaire in December and normally fin out on the surface before descending so it has peaked my interest (I'm not losing sleep about it though).

Here is one we saw at 13:00 today at Something Special, it was in between 6 to 10 feet of water near the site bouy. It was 6 to 8 ins long in total.

This is the first we have seen in forty or so dives this vacation. We did warn two snorkellers who were near.

Excellent photo, Brian!

John,

they don't seem to be so rare anymore - based on the posts of sightings here. Tim and I saw one (see above) when we were going for a swim - something I had been afraid to do because of this stupid jellyfish. I finally convinced myself to go swimming, thinking "it's so rare... what are the chances?" then I almost ran into one after about 30 minutes in the water. I've yet to see one while diving. Sometimes we kick out to the mooring before descending too - I routinely glance behind my back to make sure there aren't any in my path.

Excellent pic, Brian! Thanks so much for posting it for us.

Brian, thanks for the shot. Excellent as usual.

Mare

Brian, send that in, it's the money shot!

Brian, great photo...now, since everyone who has seen them say they move "fast" and all the jellies I've ever seen don't really break any speed records, if this guy was moving "fast"...how would you describe its movement? like that of a land turtle???

Grasshopper,

I thought the same thing before I saw one and read people here write things such as "saw one swimming away".

This is much faster than a land turtle. It was swimming at "fish" speed. I don't know if the one we saw was going at its max rate; but it was easily going as fast as the average parrotfish cruising speed. I was worried about it swimming into me.

Tim...W...O...W...was it moving like a jellyfish does? you know, the bell sucks water in and out to move itself through the water column, or was this guy smoothly moving along (or did you stick around to really look that close? lol)

(Message edited by cyndelee on September 21, 2006)

I couldn't find a speed reference for the Caribbean box jellies, but the Australian ones can exceed 3 miles per hours. I have also read that they are attracted by light, so caution on night dives is also important.

Hoppy

As Tim said it was moving at a steady pace, I am told they can turn quickly, but we did not witness this. Here's another shot to bring tears to your eyes. The diver in shorts was also watching very carefully as we were only inches away.

There's a dive video on YouTube that has a short clip of a BBBJ swimming. The quality is not great, but it gives you an idea of how they move.

The video is about 3 minutes long and the BBBJ is at 2:40.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj8UN-FjUyw

Bump.

Have any BBBJ been seen lately? Do they seem to be more common in the Aug-Sept time period?

BGuy.
BBBJ have been seen year round but more in June-Sept. I've documented 17 BBBJ's sightings/photos/videos to date. 15 in the past 4 years. 2006 had the most sightings.
The more common Carybdea alata box jelly is year round.
B Gillan

Here's an article from August 1998 on a sea wasp stinging (and maybe Darwinism)

http://www.bonaireenews.com/html/august1998.html#980824-stinging

and a pretty god photo (albeit from a BVI site)of the more common variety mentioned above.

http://www.b-v-i.com/Nature/marine.htm

I think the BBBJ would be easier to spot than the more common variety due to the colors in the tentacles.

I'm buying a 0.5 MM Oceanic Cyberskin for my upcoming trip and putting away my 2mm shortie

A friend of mine saw a BBBJ a few days ago while snorkeling at Andrea II.

Alex,
Thanks for the BBBJ post. Since I am documenting the BBBJ data/sightings/stings etc, could you be as precise as possible about your friends BBBJ sighting. Was this ID done by comparing their sighting with a pic of BBBJ or other box jelly species? Any info on time of day, depth, size of the species, colorization of the banding, etc.
Thanks,
Bud Gillan
Florida

Bud,
I received the following from my friend, hope it is of help.
Alex

I saw the BBBJ around 3:30pm near the surface, just over the edge of the reef (and near the anchorage Glass bottom Boat at Andrea II). The animal was identified based on published photo I saw at dive shop and in The Reporter. The body was probably 6" long & transparent, with the banded brown and white flat tentacles (4) that were also about 5" long and probably
1/4"-1/2" wide. It allowed me to approach and then moved quite rapidly further out over the reef and then descended beyond view. I did not see any other jellies in the area. Visibility was about 80', calm flat seas, but good surface current.
Date of viewing was November 18.

We saw a box jelly on November 28, but it had pink tentacles, so it wasn't the BBBJ. We steered clear of it none the less.

Location was between Corporal Meiss and Bachelor Beach, at about 10:30 PM Bonaire time. It was in about 10 FSW with the bottom about 15 FSW (near the drop-off, but not quite to it yet).

Tentacles were around 10" long, bell about 4" long. Four salmon-pink tentacles, one from each corner of the bell. Bigger than I expected based on Humann/Deloach info, but I had a good frame of reference when it swam between my wife & me.

I wound up buying a Scubapro 0.5 mm Profile Silverskin suit for this trip (I liked it better than the Oceanic 0.5 mm suit), and I was glad I put away my 2 mm shortie. My wife was in her 3-2 mm Seaquest X-flex full wetsuit (her standard suit - she gets cold easier than I do underwater). We had 2 other divers with us diving in long sleeve rash guard shirts but only bathing trunks - who were very careful not to contact the box jelly (they were the first ones to spot it). It tracked toward me since I was trying out my new canister light, illuminating it.

There were a lot of dead and dying spot-winged comb jellies in the area at the time. Strong south to north current (a storm blew in a few hours later), unusual for this area in our experience.

When my wife gets her pics sorted out, I'll post some.

Interesting to see a BBBJ sighting reported the previous week. We did Andrea II as a dusk dive on Nov. 30, but didn't see any jellies there at that time.

Here's the sea wasp we encountered - lots of backscatter with the current kicked up by the approaching storm (as we found out). This is definitely more difficult to see than the BBBJ,

Here's the box jellyfish we encountered - there's considerable backscatter with the current we encountered (storm blowing in we later discovered). My best bet is this is a Carybdea Alata

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/64944/cat/2142