Party time in Desolation Sound
We used to do lots of prawning. We had a few special spots that always seemed to produce, so I didn’t mind pulling up endlessly to retrieve the trap. Usually, there were sections of line coated in a snotlike slimy goo that always made me wonder about its origin. I learned one beautiful day pulling the trap up outside of Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound.
This particular day was a scorcher – swimming and sunscreen were the orders of the day. I’d dropped the trap as we motored in at about noon, anticipating a prawny feast for happy hour. When the time came to retrieve the bounty later in the afternoon, I enlisted my friend Al to help and set off in our dingy. Our mood was joyful and playful. Upon arrival, I sat on the pontoon of our inflatable, dangled my feet in the water, and proceeded to pull the slimy line up between my legs. As the trap slowly made its way to the surface, we wondered aloud “What is that slimy gunk on the prawn trap line?”
Turns out that it’s jelly fish tentacle. The waters of the north-eastern Pacific are home to the largest jelly fish on the planet. They’re known as Lion’s Mane jelly fish for their deep red colour and large fringing mane of long tentacles. Like all jellyfish, these tentacles are covered in stinging cells meant to deliver a neurotoxin that paralyzes prey. The stinging cells on Lion’s Mane jelly fish can – and on that day, most certainly did – penetrate human skin. Previously, I’d only contacted the slime with my hands, and the relatively thick skin on my palms prevented any harm. Unfortunately, the soft skin of my inner thigh offered no such protection. Reportedly, the sting of the Lion’s Mane jelly fish results in a painful rash that typically lasts for a few hours, but is rarely fatal. Yup, that sounds about right.
sailboatbliss 