One of the worst things you could do while trying to settle in for that perfect macro shot a seahorse or small crab is resting your hand on fire coral. Many times I have found myself happily drifting along only to have my dive interrupted by a burning sensation on my calf.

Fire coral is an encrusting animal whose defense mechanism is not unlike that of a jelly fish. Tiny deposits of a toxic protein are injected into the offending fish or diver when they brush up against the fire coral. The proteins are delivered using nematocysts which resembles a tiny spear. Captain Nemo would be proud!

Avoiding Fire Coral

To avoid the sting of fire coral you can follow one hard and fast rule: Don’t touch the reef. If you aren’t close to the reef, then you can’t get burned by fire coral. If you have to get close just be aware of where you are and wear an exposure suit. A good 1/2 mil wet suit does a fine job of keeping those nasties off your body. However, I find that a rash guard made of lycra works well too. Just be careful when removing your wetsuit as those nematocysts may still be stuck to your suit and may still sting you.

So what do you do when you are stung? Follow these rules to keep from prolonging the pain:

• Rinse the area with seawater. AVOID FRESH WATER! It will only agitate the proteins!
• Apply vinegar or isopropyl alcohol. I guess you could let your buddy pee on you, but that’s just gross
• After you get back on dry land you can try hydrocortisone cream 2-3 times a day to keep itching to a minimum

Learn more about fire coral by checking out a well written article at TheRightBlue.com.