little clear balls from seaweed?

icefisher01

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May 9, 2008
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I posted in another forum, but thought maybe someone here might know. last week during my visit to PC i saw hundreds of little jelly like clear balls on the beach. They are the size of marbles. a local said they call them something like "aqua views"? He said if you squeeze and break one the liquid will give your skin a bad rash. any ideas what they are? where they come from?
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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I think you will find they are fish eggs. Some fish lay their eggs in little jelly like balls
 

Lapurr

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Jan 25, 2008
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I think you will find they are fish eggs. Some fish lay their eggs in little jelly like balls

i'll buy that!! sounds about right!!

could also be jelly fish?? I have never seen one jelly fish around punta cana, or La Romana!!
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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Not jelly fish for sure. Most of those are big purple/pink things that look like jelly fish or condom like small ones. Not round balls!!
 

2LeftFeet

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Dec 1, 2006
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Are you sure they aren't part of the seaweed? The things that I'm thinking of are part of the seaweed. I've been looking online for a picture but I can't find one. Are they attached to the seaweed???
 

icefisher01

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May 9, 2008
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no, they are not attachted to anything. If you walk along the beach you will see many of these little clear to slightly green balls. perfectly round. I picked one up and held it to the sun and you can see tiny green specs floating inside the ball.
I thought it was from seaweed also. I can't find info on the web. if these things can cause a rash if broke open, then it would be nice to know.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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seaweed balls

If they are hard they are probably gas bladders from the seaweed(kelp) and if so the liquid inside will not cause a rash. I don't know about the carribean but as a kid on the west coast of Canada we played with these once and a while without problems.
 

robbie

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Aug 3, 2006
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We squished a couple!!

We were in Punta Cana last month , they were everywhere, hundreds of them! My husband and I picked a couple up and squished them, no rash;)
They are not attached to the seaweed and don't look like they ever were? We didn't know what they were either, so why not squish a couple:cheeky:
 

Holger

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Aug 25, 2009
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was this ever resolved? we have found balls of the same description in South Africa, and are quite puzzled
 

SkyBlueLove

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Mar 3, 2015
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I was very curious what these little things were as I was seeing them all over Ft Lauderdale beach. I did some research on them and was able to find this :

In Australia and New Zealand, this jellyfish is known as the blue bottle, due to its colour and shape when strewn on a beach. Elsewhere in the world it is known as the "Portuguese Man o War" as it is said to look like a Portuguese battleship with a sail.

This jellyfish is actually made up of zooids. The blue bottle is not a single organism, but made up of a number of zooids. Each zooid has a specific role and together they function as if it were an animal. For example a number of zooids will make up the stinging tentacles, others will make up the feeding tentacles, etcetera.

The blue bottle feeds on small fish and other small ocean creatures. They envelope their prey with their tentacles, where a poison is released thus paralysing its prey before being consumed. The tentacles adhere extremely well to their prey. If a tentacle is put under the microscope you will see that it looks like a long string of barbed hooks, which explains the ability of the tentacle to attach.

If a tentacle attaches itself to a human, it releases a poison (through the use of nematocysts), and if you continue to rub the skin after the tentacle has been removed more poison or venom will be released. If you are stung, it is best to wash the area without touching. A cold pack should be used to relieve the pain. If stung, please consult a doctor immediately. No fatalities have ever been reported within Australia or New Zealand from the sting of a blue bottle.

The blue bottles colour can range from a blue to a pink hue, with a transluscent body. The float or body of the blue bottle measures between 3 to 15 cms. The tentacles can range in length from 15 cms up to 10 metres!.

Did you know? The blue bottles tentacles can range up to 10 metres in length!
 

tommeyers

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Jan 2, 2012
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I live in Santiago
Welcome to dr1. We will call on you whenever we need someone who knows how to cut and paste from google search results.

Any idea what those balls found here are?
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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It could be an explanation as to why my son developed a rash and blisters on his back after spending a day at the beach.

We went to playa Ensenada a while ago and he spent most of the day in the water. He's only three years old which is why we like Ensenada as it's very shallow for a long way out. In fact you can wade out nearly half a km and it will still only be waist height.
However that evening when we got home and during bath time, we noticed a rash and blisters had developed on his back. Luckily it didn't seem to bother him, but the blisters grew to the size of marbles!

I guessed that it may have been something that touched him or stung him in the water, but as I said, it didn't seem to bother him.