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These are called blue bottles in Australia, and we get them fairly regularly where I live (Bondi) but also up and down the east coast. I'm sure they are on the

These are called blue bottles in Australia, and we get them fairly regularly where I live (Bondi) but also up and down the east coast. I'm sure they are on the west coast as well. I had thought they were 3 distinct parts, not 5. It is a fascinating bit of symbiosis.

richardw 2y ago
Googling produces: “ Bluebottles are similar to the Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis) in appearance and behavior, but are smaller and less venomous. And unlike the Portuguese Man o’ War, bluebottle stings have yet to cause any human fatalities.” https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottles%20are%20similar%20to%20the,to%20cause%20any%20human%20fatalities https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottl.... But the bluebottle seems to be called the “pacific man-o ‘war”, thus some potential for mixing them up, or adding another subspecies, etc. Not an expert.
- teruakohatu 2y ago
  Its now widely accepted there is only one species: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 I grew up in New Zealand thinking blue bottles and man-o-war's were different.
  - richardw 2y ago
    Ah, missed that. New info, thank you!
- pvaldes 2y ago
  My guess is that they are confusing blue bottles with blue bottons (Porpita porpita). The floating ones comprise Physalia, Velella and Porpita. Is an oceanic trilogy.
  - pedalpete 2y ago
    No, definitely not blue bottons, bluebottles have the distinctive "sail" that sits above the water.
MomsAVoxell 2y ago
Australian here. In my youth, we would often take long’ish car rides to get to our favorite beaches. One of them - Bunker Bay Beach, right on the Western-most tip of the country, was a particular treasure as - at the time in the late 70’s/early 80’s, it was somewhat difficult to get to, involving a bit of bush bashing and whatnot. 44C, a stinking hot day, and we’d been driving for what seemed like hours to get there, my sister and I basically boiling in the back seat while Dad navigated the dusty road. We arrive at this beautiful beach (it’s truly a gem) and I open the car door and run like mad to get into the pristine, blue waters, levitating on the baking hot sand, ignoring all and sundry in my rush to cool down. My Dad yelling something in the background did not deter me, nor did the pleas of my sister. I dove into the waves and was instantly greeted with a hard, rushing white noise of pain. It was literally like someone had glued an untuned TV set to my eyeballs, just white noise and pain like nothing I’d ever experienced. I blacked out. The next thing I remember is being rolled around in the scorching sand, my torso covered in blue bottle tentacles, the scars of which I still bear, almost 50 years later. My Dad, screaming at me to breathe, my sister yelling at me to read the signs: “BLUE BOTTLE SWARM IN SEASON: NO SWIMMING!” What had been a joy turned into misery, as we now needed to get back in the car and battle the dust to take me to a hospital and make sure Dad and I were okay - he’d been covered in the tentacles too, as he ripped them off my skin and rolled me in the sand. Subsequent visits to that beautiful spot were always tempered with at least 10 or 15 minutes of observation and surveillance, and for sure I never ran like that to get into those beautiful waters quite the same again .. and I subsequently learned that Bunker Bay Beach was kind of the final destination for every bluebottle that ever got caught in the winds along the Western Australian coastline, sort of a catchment of misery on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world ..
- jajko 2y ago
  You sort of summarized my experience with Australia as an European - beautiful to stunning places all around the coast, and every single one with massive sign of all the deadly creatures and other dangers that can kill ya in a minute (ie Irukandji). Didn't even take a proper swim there in the ocean, just waist deep on more remote beaches. Then I saw on Fraser island on some lookout above the shore sea literally swarming with sharks. From time to time some giant stingray swam through them, but mostly sharks. Like some caricature movie with Bond and piranhas. Oh boy do I enjoy swimming in Mediterranean and just not giving a fuck about anything, anytime, day or night, any season, even butt naked. In decades of going there I got 1 sting from small jellyfish on the shoulder, that's it.

richardw 2y ago

Googling produces: “ Bluebottles are similar to the Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis) in appearance and behavior, but are smaller and less venomous. And unlike the Portuguese Man o’ War, bluebottle stings have yet to cause any human fatalities.” https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottles%20are%20similar%20to%20the,to%20cause%20any%20human%20fatalities https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottl.... But the bluebottle seems to be called the “pacific man-o ‘war”, thus some potential for mixing them up, or adding another subspecies, etc. Not an expert.

teruakohatu 2y ago
Its now widely accepted there is only one species: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 I grew up in New Zealand thinking blue bottles and man-o-war's were different.
- richardw 2y ago
  Ah, missed that. New info, thank you!
pvaldes 2y ago
My guess is that they are confusing blue bottles with blue bottons (Porpita porpita). The floating ones comprise Physalia, Velella and Porpita. Is an oceanic trilogy.
- pedalpete 2y ago
  No, definitely not blue bottons, bluebottles have the distinctive "sail" that sits above the water.

MomsAVoxell 2y ago

Australian here. In my youth, we would often take long’ish car rides to get to our favorite beaches. One of them - Bunker Bay Beach, right on the Western-most tip of the country, was a particular treasure as - at the time in the late 70’s/early 80’s, it was somewhat difficult to get to, involving a bit of bush bashing and whatnot. 44C, a stinking hot day, and we’d been driving for what seemed like hours to get there, my sister and I basically boiling in the back seat while Dad navigated the dusty road. We arrive at this beautiful beach (it’s truly a gem) and I open the car door and run like mad to get into the pristine, blue waters, levitating on the baking hot sand, ignoring all and sundry in my rush to cool down. My Dad yelling something in the background did not deter me, nor did the pleas of my sister. I dove into the waves and was instantly greeted with a hard, rushing white noise of pain. It was literally like someone had glued an untuned TV set to my eyeballs, just white noise and pain like nothing I’d ever experienced. I blacked out. The next thing I remember is being rolled around in the scorching sand, my torso covered in blue bottle tentacles, the scars of which I still bear, almost 50 years later. My Dad, screaming at me to breathe, my sister yelling at me to read the signs: “BLUE BOTTLE SWARM IN SEASON: NO SWIMMING!” What had been a joy turned into misery, as we now needed to get back in the car and battle the dust to take me to a hospital and make sure Dad and I were okay - he’d been covered in the tentacles too, as he ripped them off my skin and rolled me in the sand. Subsequent visits to that beautiful spot were always tempered with at least 10 or 15 minutes of observation and surveillance, and for sure I never ran like that to get into those beautiful waters quite the same again .. and I subsequently learned that Bunker Bay Beach was kind of the final destination for every bluebottle that ever got caught in the winds along the Western Australian coastline, sort of a catchment of misery on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world ..

jajko 2y ago
You sort of summarized my experience with Australia as an European - beautiful to stunning places all around the coast, and every single one with massive sign of all the deadly creatures and other dangers that can kill ya in a minute (ie Irukandji). Didn't even take a proper swim there in the ocean, just waist deep on more remote beaches. Then I saw on Fraser island on some lookout above the shore sea literally swarming with sharks. From time to time some giant stingray swam through them, but mostly sharks. Like some caricature movie with Bond and piranhas. Oh boy do I enjoy swimming in Mediterranean and just not giving a fuck about anything, anytime, day or night, any season, even butt naked. In decades of going there I got 1 sting from small jellyfish on the shoulder, that's it.