Dangerous Portuguese Man O' War Finds Its Way Onto Fire Island Beaches

DAVIS PARK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Two children on Fire Island were among the latest victims of the stinging Portuguese man o' war.

As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, the bright blue creatures with their long tentacles have already popped up along the Jersey Shore beaches multiple times this summer. Now, Fire Island is burning to get rid of them too.

"Something caught my eye and it looked like a balloon," said Cathy Scutari-Thorvaldsen of Davis Park, Fire Island.

But a balloon it was not. Scutari-Thorvaldsen almost stepped on the slick and stinging Portuguese man o' war on a stretch of beach where the creatures are very rare.

The sea creatures look similar to jellyfish, but each one is actually a colony of multiple creatures called zooids that are physically attached together. And they look pretty, but they pack a painful and dangerous sting.

The public school science teacher ran home got a bucket.

"I found some shells, and I bent down, and I picked up the man o' war with some shells, and I brought it back to the house, got some salt water, and put it in the salt water," she said.

While she was doing that, members of the Davis Park Fire Department saw the first of several people running up to them with man of war stings. Among them was a 5-year-old.

Jen Macdonald saw the injured boy.

"It's just an electric blue – it's the prettiest blue," said Macdonald, of East Moriches. "He went to go grab it, and it stung his whole hand. He was all swollen; big rash."

John Carter has also been stung by a man o' war.

"I had, like, red marks for a week," he said.

Carter described the excruciating pain he felt when he was stung in the past. In rare cases, the reaction can be life-threatening.

A middle school science teacher like Scutari-Thorvaldsen may know how to retrieve a man o' war safely. But marine life experts say you do not want to handle one, and you don't want to come anywhere near one.

Anyone who does come into contact with a Portuguese man o' war should make sure to get far away from the organism, and then rinse the wound with saltwater – not freshwater.

Experts blame warmer waters this summer for bringing the creatures bobbing our way -- first to the Jersey shore, and now Fire Island.

Scutari-Thorvaldsen said she asked a park ranger what she should do with the man o' war she found. She said she was told bury it deep in sand that is not well-traveled, and be on the lookout for more.

Also Tuesday, a 7-year-old boy was on shore in nearby Kismet, Fire Island when he came into contact with a man o' war. He was taken to North Shore-LIJ Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and was expected to make a full recovery.