Wednesday, five children were taken to Portsmouth Regional Hospital and a hundred more injured after jellyfish invaded Wallis Sands State Beach in Rye, N.H. No serious injuries were reported and the beach was opened again today.
Just before 2 p.m. lifeguards spotted large jellyfish thought to be lion's mane jellyfish. Nearly 50 children ran to the shore crying and complaining of stings on their legs. Soon after, emergency crews from Stratham, Portsmouth, Greenland, New Hampton, Newington, and Rye were called to the scene.
Alysia Bennett, from Hampstead, looked over to find her three children running out of the water crying. She said, "They were terrified".
Ken Loughlin, manager of the park, said "It was as big as a turkey platter. The thing was probably 50 pounds... I've never seen such a thing". The 50 pound dead jellyfish was then extracted from the water with a pitchfork by the lifeguards.
Jellyfish are common to the New England area but it is rare to see 50 pound jellyfish. Robert Royer, an aquarist at the Seacoast Science Center, said, "That's the largest we have around here. I've never heard of them getting 50 pounds, though". Lion's mane jellyfish have barbed tentacles up to 100 feet long and was able to still sting swimmers even though it was dead.
Victims complaining of bee-like stings were taken to the bathhouse and five others were taken to the hospital because of fear of severe allergic reactions.
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