Sea lice at the Jersey Shore: What you need to know

🌊 Seasonal menace at NJ beaches

🌊 Actually two kinds of ‘sea lice’

🌊 One type causes skin welts

Some Jersey Shore beachgoers this summer have reported the return of an unpleasant phenomenon, known as “sea lice.”

A quick search for the term will largely turn up information on jellyfish larvae, which do fall under the non-scientific nickname.

But there’s another kind of sea lice that’s been pinching swimmers along the New Jersey coast, prompting them to race from the ocean.

Crab larvae also "count" as sea lice, according to Paul Bologna, Professor of Biology and Director of the Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences Program at Montclair State University.

“This is when the crabs have reproduced and this is the time that they’re supposed to be coming into the bays to start their life and grow up — so we can catch them next year,” Bologna told New Jersey 101.5.

Bologna also runs the Facebook group, New Jersey Jellyspotters, which has seen a recent stream of photos of these “teeny tiny,” but visible baby crabs.

He said this is the first time in a while that crab larvae has been in such abundance that it's causing the sea lice warnings along the Jersey coast.

Bologna adds that a large mass of crab larvae can move pretty quickly with the currents.

He said swimmers can be in one spot and 30 minutes later, find themselves covered in the tiny creatures.

Recently, a sea lice warning was posted by the Borough of Highlands about some individuals who had gone into the river and gotten skin irritation.

That would be the "other" kind of sea lice, thimble jellyfish larvae, according to Bologna.

"We get them along our coast, but they're often — you see it really bad around the Gulf of Mexico and Florida," he said.

Unlike crab larvae, which can be seen, microscopic jellyfish larvae is much harder to spot but can cause some serious skin welts.

The larvae easily slip beneath rash guards and swim shirts, making the irritation also called "seabather's eruption" all but unavoidable, when there's a cluster in the area, Bologna said.

"The difference is that you get stung-up crazy, but you never seem them," Bologna adds of the jellyfish larvae.

RELATED: Pack the white vinegar: Jellyfish are prevalent in NJ waters

As for the overall treatment of jellyfish stings, Bologna has previously shared a tip with NJ 101.5— pack a bottle of white vinegar for the beach.

Applying white vinegar to a jelly sting is a first step.

Then, Bologna says, rinse off in the water that you were in, bay or ocean — not using bottled water, which will make the sting worse.

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