Teens Survive Six Days Afloat Eating Jellyfish

[zoobyshoe]

Ever-vigilant PF member, Math is Hard recently alerted me to this news story, which combines two of my favorite subjects, jellyfish, and survival at sea.


"Two teenagers survived six days at sea on jelly fish and seaweed after their small sailing boat was swept out.
The pair, aged 15 and 17, also said prayers to help bring them through the ordeal off Cape Fear.
They were picked up by fishermen more than 100 miles from where they had set off in South Carolina after being spotted clinging to the side of the boat.
The boys quenched their thirst with sea water and slipped into the ocean to cool off, but sharks chased them back onto the boat. At night, they used a single wet suit to keep warm..."

Telegraph | News | Teens survive six days afloat eating jellyfish
Address:http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/02/usea.xml

After having discovered that jellyfish salads are occasionally eaten in some asian countries, I found out that there is a restaurant here that serves it if you call ahead wth a request. But because I've seen them close up on the beach and touched them, I really can't imagine eating them unless I were in the position these teenagers were in.

(When I wrote back to Math Is Hard, thanking her for the link, I commented that it sounded like these kids had really been through a harrowing ordeal, and they were extremely lucky to have been rescued. She replied: "Harrowing experience for the kids? Imagine what it was like for the jellyfish!")

 

[SOS2008]

What a combination of favorite topics--jellyfish and survival at sea! And MIH says I'm the one who always finds gems on the internet? If it's any consolation, when I first saw your post, in a rather loud voice I said:

"Eeeeooow, oh, ugh, no!"

 

[Math Is Hard]

I wonder if they ate the purple ones? They are probably much tastier than the clear kind.

 

[BicycleTree]

So do jellyfish taste good? I would imagine they taste kind of like cold rubbery raw peppers, only softer.

 

[SOS2008]

I wonder if they ate the purple ones? They are probably much tastier than the clear kind.

"Eeeeooow, oh, ugh, no!"

Okay, I like calamari and octopus, so it shouldn't seem so gross to me, but it just is. Some are deadly too!

 

[hitssquad]

I recall from one article that only the younger boy ate jellyfish, and that he did not eat very much. Digesting food takes water, and dehydration will kill a person a lot faster than starvation.

From that perspective, perhaps it was lucky for them that they lost their fishing tackle. I suspect that they would not have made it if they had been eating much of anything.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I recall from one article that only the younger boy ate jellyfish...

He wouldn't share his jellyfish?
How incredibly sellyfish!

 

[SOS2008]

I recall from one article that only the younger boy ate jellyfish, and that he did not eat very much. Digesting food takes water, and dehydration will kill a person a lot faster than starvation.

From that perspective, perhaps it was lucky for them that they lost their fishing tackle. I suspect that they would not have made it if they had been eating much of anything.

Now you've got me really freaked out. I thought maybe the boys were getting moisture from the jellyfish. If they drank much salt water for very long, that seemed to be more of a danger. Great, I wouldn't survive a day?!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I've had sea anemone before, it was... interesting. Never jelly fish though.

 

[zoobyshoe]

So do jellyfish taste good? I would imagine they taste kind of like cold rubbery raw peppers, only softer.

Having personally poked, prodded, and palpated a deceased specimen I can tell you that they are something like slightly runny jello held together by a more durable skin. The texture issues would be just about insurmountable in eating considerations.

 

[Huckleberry]

I knew a U.S. Marine that ate a piece of a dead jellyfish on the beach once. Ofcourse he became very sick and needed medical attention. Then there was a bunch of marines that thought it would be a good idea to overturn one of those European midget cars in Naples, Italy.

Do jellyfish come with a nutritional label? Yup, they do...
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s05xz.html
Not very nutritious. Very salty

http://www.thenutritionguide.com/Jellyfish-dried-salted.html
Food Group is Finfish and Shellfish Products
Water content is 68 grams per 100 grams
Calories is 36 calories per 100 grams
Protein is 5.5 grams per 100 grams
Total lipid (fat) is 1.4 grams per 100 grams
Ash is 25.1 grams per 100 grams
Carbohydrate is 0 grams per 100 grams
Total dietary fiber is 0 grams per 100 grams
Total Sugars is 0 grams per 100 grams
Calcium is 2 mg per 100 grams
Iron is 2.27 mg per 100 grams
Magnesium is 2 mg per 100 grams
Phosphorus is 20 mg per 100 grams
Potassium is 3 mg per 100 grams
Sodium is 9690 mg per 100 grams
Zinc is 0.42 mg per 100 grams
Copper is 0.14 mg per 100 grams
Manganese is 0 mg per 100 grams
Selenium is 42.2 µg per 100 grams
Vitamin C is 0 mg per 100 grams
Thiamin is 0.01 mg per 100 grams
Riboflavin is 0.01 mg per 100 grams
Niacin is 0.2 mg per 100 grams
Pantothenic acid is 0 mg per 100 grams
Vitamin B6 is 0.01 mg per 100 grams
Folate is 1 mg per 100 grams
Folic acid is 0 µg per 100 grams
Food Folate is 1 µg per 100 grams
Folate is 1 µg dietary folate equivalents per 100 grams
Vitamin B12 is 0.02 µg per 100 grams
Vitamin A is 7 IU per 100 grams
Vitamin A is 2 µg retinol activity equivalents per 100 grams
Retinol is 2 µg per 100 grams
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is 0.02 mg per 100 grams
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) is 0.1 µg per 100 grams
Alpha-carotene is 0 µg per 100 grams
Beta-carotene is 0 µg per 100 grams
Beta-cryptoxanthin is 0 µg per 100 grams
Lycopene is 0 µg per 100 grams
Lutein+Zeazanthin is 0 µg per 100 grams
Saturated fatty acid is 0.273 grams per 100 grams
Monounsaturated fatty acids is 0.202 grams per 100 grams
Polyunsaturated fatty acids is 0.475 grams per 100 grams
Cholesterol is 5 mg per 100 grams

Typical serving sizes and weights in grams
1 cup - weighing 58 grams
weighing 0 grams

 

[zoobyshoe]

He wouldn't share his jellyfish?
How incredibly sellyfish!

Most kitties are quite sellyfish
When eating an old smellyfish.

But you would think a brother
Would share some with the other!

 

[BicycleTree]

I have also poked and prodded jellyfish but I still think they would taste like cold, rubbery, raw peppers. By "softer" I did mean a lot softer.

 

[zoobyshoe]

"Eeeeooow, oh, ugh, no!"

Ironically, you have accidently uttered the zoobie words for "Waiter! More invertebrate!"

 

[zoobyshoe]

Do jellyfish come with a nutritional label? Yup, they do...
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s05xz.html

No fiber? I have to make a note to get down to the beach and leave some metamucil out for the sea turtles.

 

[BicycleTree]

Isn't ash fiber?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I have also poked and prodded jellyfish but I still think they would taste like cold, rubbery, raw peppers.

You mean big green bell peppers? What color are your jellyfish? Mine are clear with weird, purple stripes.

 

[BicycleTree]

Yes, green or red bell peppers. I think the only jellyfish I've seen dead on the sand were purplish red.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Isn't ash fiber?

I don't think so because right beneath ash Huckleberry's list says: 0 grams dietary fiber per 100 grams (of jellyfish).

 

[BicycleTree]

Ash is The mineral residue of incinerated organic matter, used as an additive in pet foods.
-Dictionary.com

So what is it made of?

 

[zoobyshoe]

From that perspective, perhaps it was lucky for them that they lost their fishing tackle. I suspect that they would not have made it if they had been eating much of anything.

If you can catch a fish, you can eat some of it, then take the rest, wrap it in your shirt, and twist the juice out of it into your mouth.

 

[hitssquad]

http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/meats.html

--
Why is Low Ash Important?

Ash is the non-combustible, or non-burning, portion of pet food. High ash levels in pet foods are not only a reflection of how much bone is in the product but also the quality of the pet food. Since the greater part of ash is not absorbed it lowers the digestibility of the food—which means more waste—and adversely affects palatability. (See our taste test to compare leading brands...)

Calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals make up a large part of ash which means high ash pet foods usually contain higher levels of calcium and phosphorus. While calcium and phosphorus are important for the health and maintenance of the skeletal system, they also have very important roles throughout the body including: blood coagulation, energy metabolism, transmission of nerve impulses, and cell membrane integrity to name a few.
--

 

[hitssquad]

If you can catch a fish, you can eat some of it, then take the rest, wrap it in your shirt, and twist the juice out of it into your mouth.

Fish contain fresh water? If that the case, why have sailors historically so often died from dehydration when their fresh-water supplies ran out?

 

[SOS2008]

...Since the greater part of ash is not absorbed it lowers the digestibility of the food—which means more waste—

And, I suppose a larger pooper-scooper? :yuck:

 

[zoobyshoe]

Fish contain fresh water? If that the case, why have sailors historically so often died from dehydration when their fresh-water supplies ran out?

The strange truth is that navies and merchant ships throughout history have never made provision for taking advantage of the extra food they might fish out of the sea on their voyages. The one possible reason I can think of for this might be that most navies used to be "floating prisons". If a crewman weren't dead or asleep, he was working. Fishing off the boat may have seemed just too relaxing to the officers to allow. The same goes for merchant ships: the crew is alway at work. So, when they had to take to the lifeboats there was never any tackle to bring.

I found out about the fish juice from Survive The Savage Sea, a true story of a family from a yacht who survived something like 1500 miles in two lifeboats. Fish juice is not fresh water, but it doesn't seem to be salty enough to be dangerous over the short term-a few days till you could catch rain water.

If you could catch fish, but had no water, then I think it would be best to just eat some of the fish, squeeze the juice out of the rest and drink it, so that you didn't dehydrate from digesting the solid part, as you mentioned would happen. If it didn't rain eventually, you'd be doomed, though.

 

[hitssquad]

OK. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Danger]

I wonder if they ate the purple ones?

You mean the grape-jellyfish? Wouldn't be appropriate without peanut butter.

 

[zoobyshoe]

If they were lucky, some of these came floating along:

Address:http://www.underwater-photos.com/pw048.html

All cooked and ready to eat.

 

[rachmaninoff]

Um, the nutriton info posted was actually for "jellyfish, dried, salted".

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s05xz.html

 

[franznietzsche]

I recall from one article that only the younger boy ate jellyfish, and that he did not eat very much. Digesting food takes water, and dehydration will kill a person a lot faster than starvation.

From that perspective, perhaps it was lucky for them that they lost their fishing tackle. I suspect that they would not have made it if they had been eating much of anything.

They drank ocean water though. And besides, fish have blood, which is much better drinking than ocean water.

Water Water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Water Water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

That's catchy! Can I quote you on that?

 

[hitssquad]

They drank ocean water though.

They did not drink ocean water. They gargled it.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/cnna.long/

--
The only thing we could do with the water was gargle salt water and spit it out. And it drizzled one night, and we licked water off the deck, trying to get something in us. So that's all we had.
--

 

[zoobyshoe]

In the news story just linked by hitsquad the older brother says the younger brother ate jellyballs. These are also known as cannonball jellyfish. Apparently very common, and sometimes used as fishing bait.

JELLYFISH-SEA SCIENCE SERIES
Address:http://www.dnr.state.sc.us/marine/pub/seascience/jel

 

[hypatia]

I ate jellyfish once, well I can't really say I ate it because it refused to go down my throat. Much like Fear Factor,except there wasen't a bucket.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I ate jellyfish once, well I can't really say I ate it because it refused to go down my throat. Much like Fear Factor,except there wasen't a bucket.

So someone dared a jellyfish to go down your throat, but it refused, giving up its chance at the 50 thousand dollars?