Have you ever actually encountered a real, live (or formerly alive) jellyfish?

Growing up, I spent my summers on Fire Island, there were many many jellies. Some were the harmless, clear ones, with pretty designs, others were the nasty red-centered ones with long stinging tentacles that we would run afoul of from time to time. Those were really nasty.
On rare occasions, after serious storms, an occasional Portuguese Man Of War would wash upon the beach.

Sorry about the refund use of “occasion”.

They’re pretty common in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Florida, Alabama and Mississippi coast.

I was last in Pensacola, Florida in 2012—and almost two years after the oil spill, they were about the only living thing in the water,

Yes. When I was a child we lived in Florida. A canal coming off of Tampa Bay was in our back yard.
One time a friend came to get me because jellyfish were “swarming.” He had a net. He’d scoop them up and put them in a coffee can.
I ran home to get a coffee can.
When I got back to my friend’s dock I filled my can with water. My friend had to explain that his can did not have any water in it. It was just full of jellyfish that looked like water.
He also warned me not to touch them cuz they would kill me.

I was stung in the Caribbean on my honeymoon. My new hubby offered to pee on me. It stung/burned. Even a breeze on my knee was painful for weeks, although a slight bit less each day. The only thing remotely helpful was slathering benadryl cream on it.

I didn’t really see it. I thought there was a hair floating near the surface. I don’t know if it had a black line on a leg or was tangled with something. Hubby swatted it away and got an ever-so-slight sting on his hand.

Growing up in Southern California and vacationing in Baja Mexico many many times Portuguese Man-O-War and just jellies. Stung walking on the beach with jelly buried in the sand a couple of times, only once in the water..

A lifeguard told me I was stung. I was about 12 years old I think, in the ocean in Florida, and suddenly very painful on my knee. The life guard said there were a lot of man-o-war in the ocean that day. Pain lasted a long time. I remember it as being hours until it let up. I don’t remember if it lasted into the next day. If it did it must have been milder by then.

As an adult I’ve twice seen beaches with tons of blue jelly fish beached on the sand. I think the blue is the man-o-war. Sometimes the tides come in and they wash up I guess.

I also once saw lots and lots of clear jelly fish in a marina area, I don’t remember which state/country I was in. It made a impression on me though.

One time after swimming in the ocean I was incredibly itchy for days, and a bit of a rash, and I’m pretty sure it was sea lice, which is jellyfish larvae. It was sea lice season. Now, I know better, and always rinse off after being in the ocean. I’m very reluctant to go in the ocean during sea lice season though, I’d rather not risk. I think a lot of people who don’t know chalk it up to heat rash or sun rash, but it’s usually where your bathing suit is. Like if you have on a one piece you might get it on your stomach or side where the suit covers you.

I see them a lot in the Puget Sound in the warmer months. Some are huge. The babies are so cute. All are beautiful.

I have seen them and been stung in Hawaii. And also in Panama as a child.

I hate to say this, but I’ve seen real jellies before, in the form of my favorite food…

Jellyfish noodle and jellyfish salad are dishes in my country, and I just have a taste for them. They are often eaten alive because they would melt when cooked. The price is high too.

@Mimishu1995
I’ve had jelly tentacles at a Japanese sushi restaurant.

@Mimishu1995 Alive? Oh…...my…....god.

@anniereborn sorry, I think “alive” isn’t the right word here. It should be “raw”. I couldn’t think of the right word for that when I typed my answer.

Oh I thought you meant a Fluther user.

Yeah, I’ve seen many many jellyfish in many different situations. They float around. They often look pretty eerie and cool. When I was a kid, a couple of times I dropped little rocks on them, which would get them to tilt and the rocks would roll off. I’ve also seen them wash up on beaches, sometimes in vast numbers.

So, the blue jellies are Portuguese man-of-war, I looked it up. Here’s a short article and video. I’ve seen the beach with many more than what’s in the video. It’s quite a sight. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-reg-portuguese-man-o-wars-20180212-story.html%3foutputType=amp

@Mimishu1995 hahah. oh, thank goodness!

Yeah, @Mimishu1995 I had this mental image of your mouth all red and swollen, with jellyfish tentacles hanging out of your mouth, but you were grinning from ear to ear! 0.o
Wow!

All the time on the beach (NC). Also, at my previous job, we used to have to pull them off the screens we used to keep big junk out of the cooling water we used. Mostly Cannonballs. And once, I saw a little baby jellyfish in Hawaii swimming along side the sub (which was docked). It would swim so far, run into a water outlet from a system on the sub which would blow it back 5’ or so, and it would swim forward again. I don’t think it realized it was stuck in a loop.

When I was 10–12 my parents took us on a winter trip to Miami. One day the beach was littered with many blue plastic balloons that popped when you stomped on them with your sandals. My younger brother and I ran up the beach happily popping them like we would to bubble pack today.
We did not know until that evening that we had been stomping Portuguese Man-of War jellyfish !
We did not get stung!

I never saw a jellyfish until I went to Miami a few years ago. I wanted to dip my feet into the Atlantic Ocean and when I got up to the shore there were jellyfish everywhere. I did not dip my feet in the Atlantic.

No, never!
I don’t like the jellyfish vibe here, I get that a bunch of them together make up a “fluther” but all the same…
When we’re referred to as a “jelly” it makes goosebumps of cringe appear on my arms :D

@ucme, let’s see…spineless, mindless, floating through life without any real direction…that could be a good description of some of those we call Jellies. If you are afraid it might describe you, ask the help if they see you that way.

@seawulf575 I’ve told you before, stop flirting with me!
Oh & no one calls them “help” anymore, not since the seventies :D

I’ve felt them oozing against me in the Atlantic at times.

Yes, I stepped on one at the beach in California when I was about five years old. It stung really bad, like being stabbed with a burning needle. The lifeguards put some sort of salve on it, but I only remember how much it hurt.