Jellyfish Attacks 4-Year-Old At Swampscott Beach

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A 4-year-old boy is OK but remains shaken after being attacked by a lion's mane jellyfish while swimming at Eisman's Beach in Swampscott Saturday.

The boy's mother told The Daily Item, which first reported this story, that her son started screaming and her husband ran into the water. The father carefully removed the jellyfish's tentacles from the boy's body, Melissa Weinand said, then the couple rushed him home to treat his wounds with vinegar.

"He was covered in these tentacles that were wrapped around his belly and around his body all the way up to his face," Weinand told the newspaper. "When my husband took the tentacles off of him, and even after putting the vinegar on, it looked like my son had been whipped."

Swampscott and other North Shore communities issued warnings about the lion's mane jellyfish after sightings earlier this month. But Swampscott Town Administrator said Sunday there are no plans to close the town's beaches.

Lion's mane jellyfish are one of the biggest species of jellyfish with tentacle spreads up to 100 feet wide. Their stingers have toxins that can cause localized pain and skin redness in people.

Dave Copeland covers Swampscott and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).