Wildlife of the Day (Episode 4)

I thought I was seeing a piece of plastic trash in the sea this morning -- my first on this cruise. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Upon closer inspection, it was one of these:

Anyone who has accidentally brushed up against the tentacle of one of a Portuguese Man o' War already knows more than s/he wants to about this animal -- and does her/his best to avoid them at any cost.

Portuguese Man o' War (the scientific name is Physalia physalis) are common in warm waters around the world. And, though they are often called jellyfish, they are actually colonial hydrozoans -- they are made up of a large colony of smaller organisms.

A Dutch man-of-war firing a salute. (image from http://hamrunscouts.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/portjell.gif).

In my experience, where there is one man-of-war, there are usually more. This is because the man-of-war's large, blue, gas-filled bladder floats above the water's surface and serves as a sail for the colony. This means that with the right wind large numbers of man-of-wars (or is it men-of-war?!) can be blown into the same area -- sometimes they are found in flotillas (rafts) of hundreds.

But not today. Today I saw only one.

It was a pretty sight, but I was glad to be on the ship rather than in the water. Although the sting of the Portuguese Man o' War is not deadly to humans, it is very painful and often comes in multiples.

Maybe this is another reason for the name. Not only does this organism's blue "sail" resemble the triangular sail of the 15th and 16th century warship, its fires a heck of a shot!