DATELINE: 27th July 2001

JELLYFISH ATTACK
A diver was hospitalised after receiving severe jellyfish stings while diving in the waters of Ailsa Craig, in Scotland's Firth of Forth.
Brian Watson, from Leeds, was with a group that had completed an extended-duration trimix dive to 32m and was decompressing at 6m when the incident occurred. The 52-year-old is reported to have been extremely unfortunate - he was switching DVs when his face came into contact with the jellyfish tentacles. He was stung on the face and inside his mouth.
Watson was taken aboard his dive-boat suffering from shivering, tingling, numbness and stomach ache - the latter caused by ingesting mucous from the tentacles.
He was evacuated by helicopter to the Island of Cumbrae's recompression chamber and transferred to hospital once it was established that his symptoms were caused by jellyfish stings. Treated with adrenaline steroids and antihistamines, he made a full recovery.
It has been established that the jellyfish was a scowder. Its tentacles can grow up to 10m long and are near-invisible under water. Even the tentacles of a dead scowder can transfer chemicals leading to stings..

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