Portuguese men o’ war continue to be spotted in Rhode Island waters, with some found washed up on beaches, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
But the state DEM hasn’t received any additional reports of people being stung since Scarborough State Beach was closed late Monday after two people were stung, apparently by men o’ war.
The state began flying purple flags to warn beach-goers after the Scarborough incidents. The creatures, which pack a mean sting, have also been spotted off Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Horseneck Beach in Westport.
The DEM said it would keep an eye out for the men o’ war this week, and there have been several additional sightings, according to spokeswoman Gail Mastrati.
Some of the creatures were found dead, washed up on beaches, but the siphonophores (a group of animals closely related to jellyfish), with tentacles that can grow up to 100 feet long, can pack a punch, even in death.
“People should avoid handling (Portuguese men o’ war) or accidentally stepping on them because their tentacles can still sting even if the animal is dead,” Mastrati said.
On Wednesday, DEM Marine Fisheries staff observed three men o’ war in the Sakonnet River and on Thursday saw five that had washed up and were dead on Scarborough State Beach, according to Mastrati.
DEM Marine Fisheries staff also received a confirmed report from a person who observed three at Fort Wetherill in Jamestown on Thursday, also washed up and dead, she said.
In another report from the public, an individual reported seeing three men o’ war in the Sakonnet River just south of Black Point in Portsmouth on Tuesday, but she said the report was not confirmed by the DEM as no photos were provided.
On Friday morning, the DEM received a call from someone who reported seeing several dead men o’ war washed up on the private, ocean-facing beach off Jerusalem, according to Mastrati.
John Costello, a professor of marine biology at Providence College, captured one off Fort Wetherill on Wednesday, brought it back to campus and put it in a tank to show his students. It might have been the first chance those students had to see one up close.
“It’s a beautiful animal,” Costello said, noting the variety of colors, “the blues and pinks.”
Men o’ war don’t swim. They are transported by wind and currents. Costello agrees with Jason McNamee, a marine biologist and deputy director for natural resources at the DEM, who believes a “warm core ring has peeled off from the Gulf Stream” toward the Rhode Island coast, sending the men o’ war into Southern New England waters.
Costello doesn’t expect the man o’ war to survive in the tank for more than a few days. (It already got caught in the filter on its first night.) The DEM doesn’t expect them to survive in Southern New England waters for much longer either, according to Mastrati.
“We cannot say exactly when we will stop seeing” them, Mastrati said, but “given that they are more of a tropical/subtropical species, they will likely not survive as water temperatures drop as we move into the fall.”