Bluebottle warning

Beach lovers have been warned to take care in the water and while out walking after reports of bluebottles around Phillip Island’s coast.

Cowes resident Trish Cerini said she was walking on the sand in February when she walked on a suspected bluebottle, which left two puncture marks on her foot and she was raced to the Health Hub.

“The doctor saved my life by injecting me with the right injections,” Trish said.

“I had a massive headache, ears swelled, body rash, heart raced and I became paralysed, I could not move. They couldn’t find a pulse in my foot and started talking sepsis. I am so appreciative of our island’s hub. Toxicology at the Dandenong Hospital said they couldn’t identify what it was other than something that has gone from the tropics to here.

“I wear thongs now on the beach … be very careful as I could not see what bit me.”

Last week a Surf Beach resident posted this picture on social media, while another commented they saw a dead bluebottle the previous week at Berrys Beach. One resident said the jellyfish, also known as Portuguese man-of-war, arrive on the island with a prolonged easterly wind.

If stung by a bluebottle: Find a place to rest with someone who can watch over you; don’t rub the stung area; wash off remaining tentacles with saltwater and rinse the stung area well.

If possible, immerse the stung area in hot water at a comfortable temperature, with research showing 40C will relieve pain after 10 minutes.

For most, the pain from a bluebottle sting will fade in one to two hours, however some beach goers can suffer anaphylactic shock from a bluebottle sting.

Call triple zero if symptoms persist or if allergic reaction begins.