The Kleppe family had been enjoying the beach for hours, and Evelyn was practicing swimming as she sat down in the water.
Photo: Private
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– When I got up, I knew something was hurting and burning. At first, I thought it was the burning man, she says.
But it turned out to be a sea anemone she had been missing. It has small tentacles with nasal venom.
– It’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. My skin got small bubbles and I started to laugh. I could not sit properly, could not sleep properly and had to lie on the side, she says, and have clear marks on the skin that still itches, a week after she was burned.
This is what the seven-year-old’s thighs looked like a week after meeting the anemone Photo: Privat
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Thrives in Western Norway
The anemone has been to the Norwegian coast before, and now marine researcher Gro van der Meeren at the Institute of Marine Research believes it has come to stay.
– It lies on the ground and sometimes hides brown seaweed. It is unusual, but we have heard of several observations in the fjords south of Bergen, but also as far north as Ålesund, says van Der Meeren, and says that it is unusual for sea anemone to come so shallow and that there are so many of them this year .
Nose poison in the tentacles
The scientist may well understand that Evelyn got hurt when she was hit by the anemone’s tentacles.
“It has nasal poison in cells in its tentacles that are shot out like small poison arrows when touched,” she says, explaining that it varies how much power and how much someone gets burned.
The anemones live on seaweed and kelp Photo: Institute of Marine Research
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Of the most intense injuries, she has heard of people who get sores and have scars for months afterwards.
Warns bathers
The researcher thinks bathing Norwegians this summer should look out for and clear the beach for the children.
– My recommendation is that the adults first take a cautious round of water on shallow water. Looking for the tentacles and picking it up and pulling it out into deeper water, she says, saying that one need not kill it because it is not aggressive.
– It can not manage to burn finger skin so it can be picked up safely. It is also not very well stuck in the tongs.
The Marine Research Institute and Gro van der Meeren (th) want tips for havfunn.no if you see the sea anemone where you bathe. Photo: Guro Halleraker
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– Keep bathing, but look a little better too. It is a bit like the tropics here, where shoes and tights are recommended. As it gets warmer it becomes even more strange in the sea and then you might want to wear tights and bathing shoes here as well, is the recommendation from the researcher.
Become skeptical about swimming
Unlike the Pacific oysters that try to pick off on the beaches of Eastern Norway to make it easier for the bathers, it is difficult to do anything about the Swan demon.
– There is nothing we can do about this, other than clear it away. From nature, it is amazing to see a development and that it is so adaptable. But for us people who want to swim, it is really boring, says Gro van der Meeren to TV 2.
Evelyn wants to swim in the water again, but has become more skeptical.
– I do not want to bathe in the same place, and not where there is a lot of seaweed. After all, Dad can’t pick everyone up, and I’m afraid of being burned again.
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