A message for anyone thinking about take a trip to the Carolina coast Folly Beach officials say there have been a rampant rise in reports of man-of-war stings.
On Friday there were so many stings, lifeguards closed a portion of the beach to swimmers in front of the Tides hotel.
Man-of-war aren’t deadly but with tentacles that can be as long as 100 feet they are practically unavoidable in the water and they could send you to the hospital when you're back on land
"It burns like crazy," said one woman who had just been stung.
Man-of-war aren't technically jelly fish but in murky water, both sea creatures are tough to spot.
"It got me twice today," another beach goer said.
The difference between a man o' war and jelly fish?
"They [man o' war] have the most potent sting of all of our local species," said Shannon Howard, a biologist at the South Carolina Aquarium.
Howard said sightings are usually more common around late spring and early summer but high winds in the Atlantic ocean have blown the man-of-war closer to the coast and the effects are being felt in more ways than one.
"I went to go cool off in the water and I just walked a few feet out and the lifeguard brought me back in and he came and told that they had really violent jellyfish attacks and if we wanted to swim, we had to go all the way down toward the end of the hotels down there and that's where we went," said Brooke, a Charleston resident.
Folly Beach deputy chief Rocky Burke said he's never seen anything like this.
"Just today, August 10, we've had an uptick, we've had 4 calls of people calling in, reporting they've been stung," said Burke.
Howard has no idea when the sea creature stampede will cease but she's warning everyone to be cautious if they see a man-of-war.
"Because the tentacles are so long, get out of the water as quickly as you can."
She suggests packing a bottle of vinegar and a heating pad, which is the best way to treat a sting.
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