Sea Lice Are Baby Jellies So Take Care On The Beach This Summer

First Posted: Jun 07, 2016 07:09 AM EDT

Sea lice have no brains and no blood, and they are made of 99 percent water, but these little summer buggers can still sting.

Creepy Crawlers:Sea lice invading Gulf Coast beaches https://t.co/LaYQ3busQ7 pic.twitter.com/F46bhKMaxk

— Houston News (@abc13houston) June 6, 2016

Ocean swimmers off the Florida coast are prone to these rashes that are caused by the minuscule creatures that are about as large as a speck of dust. Sea lice may be called as such, but according to CNN, they are actually microscopic larvae of marine life such as jellyfish and sea anemones.

The Florida Department of Public Health stated that these tiny organisms have infested Florida waters for over a century. They may be visible to the naked eye, but these baby jellies disappear soon as they hit water, making them impossible to avoid.

Mary Russell, a sea lice researcher from the Florida Atlantic University Study said that the jellyfish larva "appears like a speck of finely ground pepper. Its size is approximately that of a pinhead floating on the surface layers of the water."

Unlike adult jellies, these "lice" don't hurt when they sting you - in fact, you won't even know that they did until you develop rashes, usually around 24 hours after contact.

Scientists say that the stinging larvae can infest warm coastal waters like Florida and the Caribbean, particularly when the temperature is between 76 and 82 degrees Farenheit.

But how can you avoid these creatures if you can't even see them? ABC News noted that the best way to avoid them is to listen to reports and don't go in the water if they're expected. However, there are other things that you can do, including wearing waterproof moisturizer such as zinc oxide or thick layers of Vaseline to minimize or block the nasty stings.

Or you could swim naked. Jellyfish expert Doug Allen said that these creatures only sting when they get caught in your swimsuit or caps, and they get squished. He shared, "That's when their matecysts, the cells that act as stingers, fire off."