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While diving in the Bahamas I grabbed the ship's mooring line and felt like I got cut. I couldn't see anything but my hand was swollen by the time the dive was over and I was on deck. A crew member poured vinegar on it and I went on with the rest of the week. Back at home a doc gave me a topical steroid to apply and said it will go away in time. It's been 2.5 week and still there. What exactly are hydroids and how long before healing?
Peace Deb Evans
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Hydroid
Common name:
Hydroid
Scientific name:
Tubularia
Size:
up to 5 cm long, and may be 1 cm in diameter
Distinctive features:
pale orange-pink polyps that grow on crooked stalks
Where it lives:
attached to rocks or other hard substrates, may be mistaken for seaweed
Hydroid Factoid:
Hydroids are actually colonies of individuals called polyps, which grow on a common stalk. Polyps in a typical colony each have specific jobs and look different from each other. These jobs include defense, feeding, and reproduction. In order to build up their own colony the hydroids reproduce by budding; all polyp types can bud. New colonies in Tubularia are formed when reproductive polyps make little polyps that stay attached until they develop into mature polyps. The mature polyps drop away from the "parent" and settle on the ground, then grow a new colony.
http://www.psat.wa.gov/you_can_do/creature/hydroid.htm
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Q:
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While performing our safety stop my wife and I were holding onto a mooring line. We were not wearing gloves. Within a few minutes we both had itchy palms and they became red and swollen too. Has DAN ever heard of this and what do we do?
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A:
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More and more divers have reported stinging injuries as a result of grasping mooring lines with ungloved hands. Rope fibers themselves can cause injury as well. From the reports DAN receives, however, most mooring line injuries appear consistent with a marine life envenomation.
Colonies of organisms eventually inhabit all man-made objects in the ocean, including mooring lines. It is not known with certainty exactly what organism inhabits the lines. Many authorities maintain that the most likely suspect is a member of the hydroid family, a class of coelenterates that also includes jellyfish. Divers should treat these injuries the same way jellyfish/fire coral injuries would be treated.
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Additional Resources:
Jellyfish Stings
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.asp?faqid=192
Hope this helps.
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Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, thats what I call a reply!!!!!!!!!!
It's okay, just show us on the doll where the P.A.D.I. instructor touched you.
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Permanent moorings almost always have hydroids living on them. The reaction to their stings is quite variable. I have had stings that cause swelling and itching that goes away in an hour or two. I have also had rashes that lasten several weeks. It is important not to touch mooring lines with your bare hands but even if you use gloves you can get stung when you handle the gloves while taking them off. It is best to develop good buoyancy skills so that you do not have to hang on to the lines.
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But...I find it hard NOT to hold on to a mooring line when there is a good current.
Join the Chicago Scuba Meetup Group! http://scuba.meeup.com/105
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Use a jon line.
Duane A. Johnson www.chicagoexplorers.com
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What's a jon line?
Peace Deb Evans
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A jon line is a line you carry that connects you to another line, such as a mooring line. Often used by those that do deco stops. Sounds like a good idea.
Join the Chicago Scuba Meetup Group! http://scuba.meeup.com/105
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jon lines are good, especially when you have six divers trying to do a safety stop at once.
The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win.
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I think in her case that might be a JAN(E) Line. : )
To Error on the side of Safety,
is to Live and Dive Again.
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PDSLTD - Your first post was excellent!
Pics of Jon Lines:
Brian Pautsch
bpautsch@midwestscubadiving.com
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