Nathuram Suryavanshi, lifeguard at Aksa beach who spent the entire day warning tourists about the blue bottles said that throughout Saturday atleast 40 people must have been stung
Around 40 tourists including several children who were enjoying their weekend by taking a dip at Aksa beach were left with nasty and painful stings after coming in contact with the venomous blue bottles or Portuguese Man O' War on Saturday.
The incident comes two days after DNA reported about eight tourists being stung at Girgaum chowpatty beach on July 2 after which marine experts have been demanding that BMC not only wakes up from its slumber but also deploys additional manpower on its popular beaches and puts up proper boards warning tourists not to venture into water.
Nathuram Suryavanshi, lifeguard at Aksa beach who spent the entire day warning tourists about the blue bottles said that throughout Saturday atleast 40 people must have been stung, while some had slight rashes others complained of terrible pain and especially children were crying a lot. "We directed people to apply lemon and those in lot of pain were directed to hospitals. Seeing the number of victims increasing we also alerted BMC control room and soon policemen too arrived at the beach warning people not to venture in the waters," he said.
Suryavanshi informed that while the blue bottles were being seen washed ashore since past three days but on Saturday they appeared huge in numbers and were all over in the waters as well as on the beach.
"Blue bottles being found in intertidal zone as well as washed ashore is an annual phenomenon but it seems this year their numbers are high and they are being reported from all beaches across Mumbai. We have been alerting the BMC since last week to put up boards and inform the people to stay away from venturing in the water,"Pradip Patade, co-founder of Marine Life Of Mumbai (MLOM)
What are blue bottles:
Blue bottles appear to be like plastic strewn on the beach and have a body resembling a bubble and have tentacles and any one who comes in contact with tentacles can receive a sting causing burning pain and leads to muscle weakness and these tentacles can even sting if the organisms are dead.
If Stung:
Gently pour sea water on teh area without rubbing it or treat the wound with hot water and visit nearest hospital for treatment
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