Becky

Can any of you Tar Heels, or anyone who visits the Outer Banks on a regular basis, tell me when jelly fish are most numerous and when they are pretty much gone? I remember a trip there as a kid, and for 3 days we couldn't swim because the water was teeming with these things. The wind changed, finally, and there were a lot fewer but still some. I remember someone telling us it was the "right time of year" for them.

I'm trying to decide whether to vacation there early or late in the summer (May/June vs. Aug).

ncgrrl

May/June should have less jellyfish than August. Though this from a childhood memory the family would go to the coast in late summer and have a problem with jellyfish but not have a problem earlier in the season.

If the jellyfish are bad on the ocean side, try the sound.

Enjoy your trip!

Becky

Thanks, NCGrrl,

Can you or anyone else tell me whether they are more of a problem with an on-shore or an off-shore breeze? Logic says on-shore, but someone was trying to tell me they all originate in Chesapeake Bay, so if it's a North or NW wind, it brings them down the coast.

Also what's your favorite remedy for sting?

S

Several years ago one of the clear jellyfish stung my daughter while on the Gulf Coast. One of the guys with us poured some of his ice cold beer onto the affected area (we bring a cooler down to the beach with us). Surprisingly, it worked FANTASTIC! Dunno if it was the alcohol or the temperature or both.

ncgrrl

I've heard of using meat tenderizer powder or baking soda as home remedies for jellyfish stings. Others say (but I don't believe them) of using a good handful of sand and rubbing it into the sting. That sounds painful to me and I don't plan on ever finding out for myself! I think anything ice cold (beer, water, soda) should help numb the pain.

I don't know where the jellyfish come from besides the ocean but most breezes come from off shore. Sometimes with an on shore breeze you get big, huge, flying-monkey-size mosquitoes.

CMcDaniel

ncgrrl, We always used meat tenderizer on stings too. Kept a bottle of it in our beach bag. Also heard tea bags work, and have heard the sand remedy as well. Better solution, come to the FL Gulf coast. gt; Though we used to get stung off Savannah, have yet to be in the 4 years we've lived here, (Tampa Bay area) though I recall the kids getting stung off of Destin, so perhaps they are here too and we've just been lucky.

Minor technicality, but offshore breezes go from land to sea, onshore from sea to land.

Becky

CMcDaniel -- I can see why you thought I was confused, but the geography of the mid-Atlantic/southeast is such that some off-shore winds around the northern part of the Outer Banks have flowed over the Chesapeake.

Charli

I'm not sure ncgirl is right -- someone in Wilmington told us that if we want to avoid the jelly fish to come late in the summer. But I don't know personally, I'm sorry.

ncgrrl

I'm sorry if I'm wrong about jellyfish season. For some reason I remember August as the time for jellyfish. I apologize if I'm wrong. But I do remember the flying-monkey size mosquitoes. I think my Mom worried we were going to be taken away by those bugs!

Thanks CMcDaniel for the wind direction info. Silly me thinking off shore breezes come from off shore and head inland.

And please remember this: Any day on vacation is better than a day at work. Enjoy your trip whenever you decide to come.