Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-27
Doctors are urging travelers visiting Taiwan’s southeast coast to be cautious as
Portuguese men o’ war washed up on a beach in Taiwan’s southeastern Taitung County. (Photo Courtesy Taitung Hospital/CNA)
Portuguese men o’ war wash up on local beaches.
The Portuguese man o’ war is a collection of small organisms. It is often mistaken for a jellyfish because it has a gelatinous top and stinging tentacles. On occasion, stings from the Portuguese man o’ war can be lethal. A number of dead Portuguese men o’ war have recently appeared on beaches in Taiwan’s southeastern Taitung County.
Liao Yi-sheng, the deputy head of Taitung Hospital, warns that Portuguese men o’ war can sting even after they are dead.
Liao said most injuries from stinging aquatic creatures like jellyfish come during the summer months, when more people tend to swim in the ocean. Liao also said that January is an unusual time to spot these creatures, with sightings most common when they reproduce, between April and June. [SOURCE]