USVI-On-Line

I am trying to figure out if I should purchase some safe sea lotion for our trip the end of april trip to STJ. We used it a few years ago in Mexico and it was great. The sea lice were really bad there and we did not get stung once. Is there a Sea lice issue in the usvi or bvi?

Thanks
Nancy

Never heard of it being an issue in the VI and BVI....

We use plain old Waerproof/Sweatproof SPF 15 and it works great.

I've never heard of "Sea Lice" so apparently we haven't had an issue. We've never had bug issues on the beaches on St John...

I think you are referring to what may be called sea lice and is in the water, not in the sand or in the air. It gives you a bad rash, particularly where you are covered with a bathing suit. I think the best research is saying that it is jelly fish larva that causes this problem, so it is only in certain parts of the year. I have not heard of the problem in the VI area, but I know of people in the West Palm Beach area of Florida who have the problem from time to time. Is this what you are talking about? I did not know that they had anything you could put on to protect yourself from it.

Sea lice are actually the microscopic larvae of jellyfish and other ocean stingers which contain the same nematocysts (stinging cells) as mommy and daddy. In many areas of the Gulf and Caribbean the primary culprit causing "sea lice" infestations is the larvae of the thimble jellyfish. These larvae, sometimes half a millimeter in length or smaller, can become trapped between the bathing suit and skin or in crevices like the armpit and compressed, causing the stinging cells to fire.

The larvae are large enough to be visible to the naked eye but become nearly invisible in the water - unfortunately the only reliable method of identifying when sea lice are present is by the appearance of the rash on other swimmers or divers.

These are much more likely during summer months when you can get high concentrations of these stinging larvae that may float in "clouds" or "blooms" that affect large areas of beach or ocean.

This issue seems to be reported on occasion more often on the BVI forums than the USVI forums. Maybe that has to do with the general jellyfish populations, currents and slight variations in water temps (?)
Folks on those forums have also confirmed the effectiveness of the Safe Sea product.

http://www.buysafesea.com/order_safe_sea.php

Hmmmm, could only be a coincidence, but Steve snorkeled to Waterlemon Cay (he was in the water for about 2 1/2 hrs.) the day before we came home, and when he came back to the beach he was covered in a strange rash that covered his chest & arms. He had gotten a bit sunburned, but not bad. We attributed it to the sunscreen (SPF15 at that point, which has never been a problem in the past). As the evening wore on, it got worse & he was up all night scratching. It did go away after 2-3 days, but seemed very strange at the time.

I am talking about the jelly fish larva that can sting. I am happy to hear that its not a problem in the usvi. They were really bad that time we were in Mexico. I think I'll pass on the safe sea lotion this time.
Thanks for all your input.

Nancy

We experienced something like that in Hurricane Hole but not anywhere else I swam.

It's more of an irritating itch and yeah, you get a bit of a rash I'm guessing from scratching at it.

The girls knew it before leaving the boat so they went topless.

Jmq ya just answered the mystery. Have had that happen a couple of times at the armpit and always wondered what it was. Man it must really hurt to get hit by one of the big boys.