I was on the beach the other day and there were several bluebottles that had washed up on the shore. I thought it would be a fun idea to enter 
Now the contest requires you to take a photo of an animal on a plant. There was plenty of seaweed on the beach but not near the bluebottles. So I decided to take a bluebottle and put it on some seaweed. It would have been much more intelligent of me to take some seaweed and put it near the bluebottle, but , well.....what can I say.
The bluebottle or Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) is a stinging marine animal which floats on the surface of the sea and is prone to getting blown ashore because it does not swim, but merely floats. The animal is actually composed of a colony of organisms called polyps with different functions. Part of this colony is a stinging organism that can inflict a very painful sting.
The organism floats along the sea and the float (the big bubble on top) doesn't sting. So I gingerly grabbed one of the bluebottles and placed it on some kelp. However, some of the stinging cells must have landed on the bubble as the creature was tossed onto the beach. I soon felt a stinging sensation on my fingers and WITHOUT THINKING placed my finger in my mouth to soothe it. Yup, you know where this is going! My mouth soon started burning as if I'd eaten a very, very hot chilli raw.
Now, I must only have got a tiny amount of stinging cells on my finger and then in my mouth, but it was pretty uncomfortable. Bluebottle stings, on very rare occasions have been lethal. These were usually from stings in the water when the long trailing sting could wrap itself around the victim and cause cardio-respiratory failure. I was nowhere near death, but damn was I sore!
Still, I bravely kept on with the photo session and you can see some of the results here.
In the first series of pics, the animal is on large kelp, otherwise known as sea bamboo.
Then I found a smaller seaweed which I could move to another stranded bluebottle (with the burning in my mouth and on my finger reminding me NOT to touch anymore bluebottles).
I also found a By-the-wind sailor (velella velella) which is harmless to humans (thankfully) and posed it on some kelp.
Then I took some proof shots as required by
When I arrived home, I broke off a piece of aloe growing in my garden and applied it to my stinging hand. It provided great relief.
The burning in my mouth also wore off eventually. But I've learned my lesson.....