For more information about Coastal Solutions, Inc., call 353-3368, email info@coastalsolutionsinc.com, or go to www.coastalsolutionsinc.com.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

The new spray eases the pain from the animal's stings, fire chief says

They're out there.

One floats into a swimmer's underbelly and sears her flesh.

She screeches in agony and pleads for help, unsure if she can stand any more of the burning.

A passerby offers to urinate on her stomach as the entire beach watches, waiting for uniformed help to arrive.

Clearly, jellyfish stings hurt.

And while the spineless, brainless creatures can't help the pain they inflict, rescuers say they have an answer. On Okaloosa Island, it sloshes in a spray bottle.

"It's actually stopping the neurotoxins," Okaloosa Island Fire Capt. Kevin "K.C." Carvalho says of Jellyfish Squish, a product he's putting in his crews' gear bags. "It's the most effective thing I've ever seen."

A man in Savannah, Ga., invented the formula and released it earlier this year.

It is designed to neutralize the nematocysts deposited by a jellyfish's tentacles. It purportedly stops the flow of toxins and prevents them from being released into the skin later.

In the past, firefighters and lifeguards would scoop up wet sand and press it against the wound, hoping to lift away the excess toxin. The sand didn't neutralize what had already made contact, but it minimized the damage. A credit card could scrape away what remnants might be left behind.

A small improvement over that tactic was meat tenderizer, which went a step further by breaking down some of the pain-inducing proteins in the wound.

One drawback: Sometimes that tenderizer had chili powder in it, which didn't soothe anything.

As for the urination trick (Carvalho calls it "the old wives' tale of (peeing) on it"), its effectiveness has been questioned.

However, Jellyfish Squish appears to be as good as advertised. Carvalho says he used just a tiny amount on a child, who quickly stopped crying and asked to go back in the water.

The same was true for two adults who got treated and felt better within moments. They hiked back to the beach nearly pain-free.

It's been about two weeks since the last spike in reported jellyfish stings, Carvalho said. Typically, beach safety officials will raise purple flags when jellyfish sightings mount.

But they sting even after they're dead. Some can be buried under beach sand - either washed up or placed there by pranksters - where a bare foot might tromp down unknowingly.

Untreated, the sting can burn for four to six hours, Carvalho said. The spray is said to work in moments.

In 2007, more than 200,000 stings were reported in Florida.

Anderew Gant

J.C. Grayson and Dr. Richard Lee discuss Jellyfish Squish on WTOC 11 Mid-Morning Live

A new product called Jellyfish Squish is touting itself as a no-mess replacement for all the old sting remedies: the vinegar, the tenderizer, and, yes, that other one involving bodily fluids.

"Within just a few minutes, it completely numbs the pain," said Chip Grayson, the Savannah, Ga., entrepreneur who created Jellyfish Squish.

The active ingredient is an anesthetic called lidocaine, which is included at the maximum strength allowed in over-the-counter sales by the Food and Drug Administration, Grayson said.

Lidocaine is also an ingredient in a range of familiar products, including Bactine first aid spray and Solarcaine burn relief gel with aloe.

Pitcher Roger Clemens has said it was lidocaine and vitamin B-12 that he was injecting, not steroids.

Grayson said his creation beats home remedies because it knocks out pain from nematocysts that have fired venom into the skin and stops those that haven't fired from going off.

Nematocysts are the stinging mechanisms on the tentacles of a jellyfish. When triggered by contact, "a small barbed apparatus goes out and with it is the venom," said Beth Firchau, the curator of fishes at the Virginia Aquarium.

Dr. Joseph W. Burnett, the founder of the International Consortium for Jellyfish Stings, isn't convinced.

"Topical anesthetics don't work," said Burnett, who is also a Baltimore dermatologist. "There isn't a topical medicine that will penetrate the skin that fast."

His advice: take aspirin or ibuprofen and wait for the pain to subside.

Grayson said he commissioned two professors at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah to do a double-blind test on the effectiveness of Jellyfish Squish. In a double-blind test, neither the individuals nor the researchers know who belongs to the control group and who belongs to the experimental group.

Volunteers wiped their arms with jellyfish and rated a variety of substances on how well they relieved pain from the stings. Among those tested were meat tenderizer, ammonia, alcohol and urea, which is a substitute for actual urine.

"The one that was proved most effective is the one that is now the main ingredient of Jellyfish Squish," said Dr. Peter Verity, one of the professors involved in the testing.

Jellyfish Squish, which is expected to hit shelves this week, also underwent trials last summer on the beaches of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Of about 2,500 people who tried the product, 86 percent reported much or total relief, Grayson said.

About 500 jellyfish stings were recorded at the Oceanfront last summer, said Tom Gill, captain of the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

Greg Gaudio, (757) 222-5125, greg.gaudio@pilotonline.com

Jellyfish Squish was developed in Savannah and introduced earlier this year as the only product scientifically proven to immediately and completely eliminate the pain caused by a jellyfish sting. The product is now available in retail outlets throughout Brunswick, St. Simons Island and the Golden Isles including the King and Prince Hotel Gift Shop, Frederica Station, Ocean Motion and Islands Republic.

Hundreds of thousands of stings are reported to life guards on Georgia's beaches annually, and certainly many more stings occur that are not reported by the victims.

J.C. Grayson from Savannah, Ga., created the original patented formula for Jellyfish Squish in 2007 and perfected the final product with the help of accomplished marine biologists Peter G. Verity, Ph.D., and Richard F. Lee, Ph.D., from the Skidaway Island Institute of Oceanography. Jellyfish Squish is the only commercially available product clinically proven to immediately and completely eliminate the pain caused by a jellyfish sting.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

(For more information on Jellyfish Squish, visit www.jellyfishsquish.com)

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

There are 170 species of this watery menace in the Mediterranean and the mauve stinger variety - la luminosa in Italian or la violette in French - has been studied in the north western basin since 1775. A cyclical pattern has emerged showing that every 10, 12 or 14 years they appear in shallow waters en masse for two or three years in a row and then disappear again. What's worrying scientists is that we are entering our fourth summer of discontent for bathers and most agree that something is rotten in the state of the Mediterrranean. Blame is falling on warmer seas polluted by coastal development and a lack of fresh water entering the Med. via rivers and rainwater. Meanwhile,
over-fishing has put huge pressure on large species, such as swordfish and red tuna which eat jellyfish, and on smaller varieties that
compete for food with the stingers.

The Côte d'Azur's pink peril population live out at sea, with a concentration on the edges of the Liguri an current from Italy, and it's an east
wind or a persistently southerly which brings them into shore.

As a regular bather off Cap d'Ail I've been stung four times, one of which caused my arm to swell up alarmingly. This summer I'm armed with a new product called Jellyfish Squish from Coastal Solutions in the USA. Their rep down here saw my swollen arm on the www.mctimes.com daily news site (posted in 2006!) and hotfooted over to give us some samples.

It's a topical anaesthetic which you apply immediately to the affected area. It works by "killing" the nematocysts left on the skin and neutralising the toxins. One application is enough, they say, to sooth the burning sensation. Watch this space! The company is looking for
local distributors so it is not yet available in retail outlets.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

www.jellyfishsquish.com

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

J.C. Grayson watched too many family beach outings ruined by a painful jellyfish sting that could not be soothed, so the began searching for a solution that would allow millions of vacationers and beach goers to enter the water without worry about being stung.

Grayson founded Coastal Solutions, Inc. in Savannah, Ga., and worked with two leading marine biologists to develop and test Jellyfish Squish, the only commerically available product that is scientifically proven to immediately and completely relive th e pain caused by a jellyfish sting.

To read the full article, click here to download the PDF.

A Savannah entrepreneur is aiming to take the sting out of swimming at the beach.

Chip Grayson is marketing Jellyfish Squish, a formula he developed that he says eliminates the pain of a jellyfish encounter.

Grayson, who owned and managed a local office supply company for decades, admits he's no scientist.

But he did recruit marine biologists to test Jellyfish Squish. Dick Lee and Peter Verity of Skidaway Institute compared Grayson's product to typical home remedies.

Using sea wasps and sea nettles captured from local waters they draped tentacles on their forearms and suffered the resultant stings. Then they applied vinegar, ammonia, meat tenderizer and urea (a substitute for urine) in turn. These remedies were all virtually useless, said Lee, a professor at Skidaway Institute.

"Not only did it not provide relief, in many cases it made the pain more excruciating," Lee said.

That's because an alteration in pH or salinity can fire off any untriggered stinging capsules, called nematocysts, that remain on the skin, Verity said.

Jellyfish Squish, on the other hand, did the trick.

"It certainly was painful and it was clear Squish helped alleviate the pain," Lee said.

Lee and Verity tested the product out of scientific curiosity and were not paid for their work. Neither were about six volunteers they recruited for a double-blind follow-up test that gave the same results.

The product also has won the endorsement of the American Lifeguard Association.

Grayson won't reveal what's in his over-the-counter product, except to say it contains the maximum allowable amount of lidocaine, a numbing agent.

The Savannah native was on the verge of retirement, having sold his business forms company, when Jellyfish Squish started to come together.

Its development stemmed from memories of being stung as a child and from later seeing other children, including his own daughter, writhe in pain from a sting while adults stood by helplessly.

"It seemed like it was so common but nobody knew what to do," he said.

He says he had an "aha" moment remembering some tidbits from high school chemistry and college biology classes that led him to develop Jellyfish Squish. That led the privately held Coastal Solutions Inc. to develop and market Jellyfish Squish, the company's flagship product. The company is also addressing other painful, itchy situations by repackaging the solution as Fire Ant Coolant, Chigger Chaser and Bite Blaster.

"It's basically the same formula," Grayson said.

He's raised start-up funds of more than $1 million, some of it from his own savings, to launch the products. They're manufactured and distributed from Dallas.

The Army and Airforce Exchange Service has bought the product, as well as the Navy exchange service. Several large retailers also have placed orders, including Walgreen Drug Stores.

A 4-ounce spray bottle of Jellyfish Squish retails for $9.99. It's available at area Enmark stores as well as other retail outlets and will soon be available for online orders at jellyfishsquish.com.

Mary Landers

Jellyfish season

The peak season for stinging jellyfish along the Georgia coast is August. Be especially cautious when an incoming tide pushes jellyfish toward shore.

During the spring, there are often millions of harmless, but big, cannonball jellyfish in Southeast waters. They look like a cross between a clear cannonball and a head of cabbage. Dangerous Man-o-wars are rarely a threat here.

Jellyfish appear to be increasing in number worldwide, according to Peter Verity of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. Global warming may be contributing to the increase. So may an added input of nutrients from polluted runoff into the oceans, a real worry in Georgia waters.

"Nutrients coming in provides the kind of food web that leads to jellyfish," Verity said.

Sources: www.surfline.com and Peter Verity, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography