Three days a month while most of us are asleep, University of Hawaii researchers are gathering pesky visitors from our shoreline. It's all part of a 10-year study to understand the box jellyfish.
It's just after 3 a.m. -- the Waikiki skyline is alit. Offshore in the darkness is a flicker of light. Assistant Research Professor Angel Yanagihara and her assistants are already at work.
"The signage doesn't go up until ocean safety 9 a..m whereas the animals are out here 2-to-6 a.m." said Yanagihara.
Armed with a wetsuit, a boogie board and bucket, Yanagihara searches for the spawning box jellyfish which are attracted to her dive light.
"I go out along the wall mainly that's where a lot of them aggregate and as their swimming I pick them up with dive gloves."
They're strong swimmers reaching speeds of up to 10 knots.
"These delicate little pink threads here really don't look like much and I think when tourist walk by and see one of these on the beach -- first of all its hard to see it looks like a little clear plastic sack ---it does not look like one should worry but it is one of the most potent stingers in the world," she said.
High-speed video shows how quick and how potent the attack is.
"These are a few animals that we've gotten -- one of them you can see is very milky in coloring -- that's because its spawning," said Yanagihara. "We've taken that milky substance and we've been able to under the microscope to see the sperm and eggs."
Her lab assistants comb the shoreline.
"We put 10 in each of these little containers and take them back and process and walk back and forth -- we get our morning exercise," said lab assistant, Kiki Craddock.
They return to their make-shift camp where the work continues.
"Most of its tentacles have been sheered so she'll just clip off what's remaining into fresh sea water and then we save the bells for different types of studies," said Yanagihara. "And they're loaded with tens of thousands of stinging cells per centimeter. So 10 centimeters -- a few inches on your skin give you a pretty healthy dose of the venom."
Their work draws the curious.
"We see them out here and they say what are you doing? We're collecting jellyfish and they're dangerous their sting -- so please don't swim --- and they go in anyway. And within about 10 minutes you'll hear screaming or somebody come to us and say, now what do we do and that's basically why we're here, to answer that question," said Yanagihara.
The answer may soon come.
Wednesday: How research may lead to relief for those who are stung.
