I go for morning swim every morning, yesterday for the first time I felt my skin was burning, like after contact contact with nettle or smth. I ignored and kept swimming for 60 min, today again my skin was burning a bit, but not as strong as yesterday. Now I'm having a rash- red spots on my hands, corpse and legs.Is it any seasonal plankton I should be aware of during particular months of a year or its just my body acting weird? Im new to Lamma, moved to HK 3 weeks ago, thought there might be smth about local water I should know;)

Thanks in advance and sorry for off topic!- Monika

Yes, that happens to me sometimes.

Don't know what it is, happens when there is no visible algae in the water. Maybe baby jellyfish?
I asked the lifeguards and they just shrug.

Anyway, it does irritate and sting the softer skin -- underarms, lips, etc. I will try to change my route, often it's very localised, and doing my laps a dozen metres further in or out escapes it. But if it's too continuous I just give up.

Usually it doesn't last more than a day or two.

Anti-histamine creams, like for insect bite, will help.

When there is a red tide it is usually just slimy, not irritating, sticks to the body hair but it just rinses off.

I haven't been in the last two days, but probably will be back tomorrow.

Thanks! I sent my bf to the pharmacy to get me some soluble calcium (helps to get rid off stuff like that), he was advised there to get a steroid creme if the rash occurs.
Hopefully this thing from the water is gone till tomorrow!

I haven't been swimming for the past few weeks, as I'm a bit of a wimp when the weather cools down Sometimes when there is red tide, (algae) you can get itchy skin briefly.

I think Alan could be right about 'baby jellyfish' very very tiny!! And I know he swims each day regardless of the temperature.

Maybe try antihistamine cream, or tablets (you can get non drowsy pills). Steroids are pretty 'heavy duty' on the body, so I would try something else!

Red spots on a corpse is usually not good news

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My eyes are up here

Happened to me before, when I was new on Lamma. Chinese guy told me that it only happens after nightly rain and I shouldn't swim until a day after. "Something eat your blood"

Told that to a biologist who used to be my neighbor and he said it's most likely mosquito larvae being swept into the sea by the rain. That's why there are so many happy fish during and after the rain. The larvae survive for a few hours in a thin layer of sweet water. There're zillions of them and they are very small so you are unaware of them. Their bites, unlike the one of grown mosquitoes, result in large, red marks like an allergic reaction, typically around the area of large blood vessels but might extend all over the body.

His advice was not to swim within half a day after rain, before the sweet water gets fully diluted. The suckers just die off when it gets too salty for them. If you want to swim anyway, do it off the shore and don't pass through them on the way in and out. Calls for a boat, pier or some patience.

I have followed his advice and since then never experienced it again. Maybe Cesar could clear that up with his DIY quantum microscope. I can't see a thing with my sunglasses.

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PARENTAL ADVISORY:
I say ***** a lot

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PARENTAL ADVISORY:
I say ***** a lot

this is commonly called "swimmers itch". http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/swimmersitch/faqs.html

cause by small parasites that do get washed into the ocean. common in this type of climate and very common after rain. can occur with or without rain, however more common after rain.

nothing too serious to worry about unless the itching persists or remains for more than 48 hours.

Hey rkl_77,

Thats exactly what I have, I double confirmed with the photos of swimmers itch in the internet. Got Simacort1% (Hydrocortisone acetate cream)recommended in the pharmacy, drinking Calcium pills, hopefully this shit will disappear soon and I can continue morning swim routine;)

My theory is that the sewage flowing into Hung Shing Yeh Wan is the possible reason of the skin irritation. It stinks horribly when you walk along the nullah. The discharge pipes are on the Electric Plant Beach. It goes for years. The bay is deep into the land so the water circulation is slow and of course dilutes the sewage slow. Some people may be more allergic/sensitive to pollutants than others.

Alan sometimes its good to reseach before comments are given.

To err is human. Peace to you.

At HSY there is a sewage treatment plant behind the shower block, has been for over 10 years, that treats HSY sewage.

There's a small peninsula between PSB and HSY. Obviously not a huge barrier, but waste from PSB's nullah would have to flow out and then back to get over to HSY.

Plastic waste floats and is blown about by winds easily. It's unpleasant but is also not a health hazard (to us, to some sea life it is). Much of the floating plastic comes down the Pearl River from China and gets blown in.
It has no relation to water quality.

Anyway, again, the symptoms suggest a small living creature, possibly larvae of some kind, not human produced waste water or sewage.