A Spiky Friend Who Stung Me

The last time we were in Jamaica, my sister and I discovered sea urchins. Do you know what sea urchins are? They are echinoderms. There are many types of sea urchins, but the ones we found were small and cute.  They had short spikes on their bodies. 

                                                 

We got all the sea urchins we could find and played school. We had playtime and lunchtime with our new friends. My sister and I weren't sure what to feed them though. We tried sand and seaweed, but we later learned that sea urchins are omnivorous. Our little friends eat things on the coral and rocks such as dead fish, mussels, sponges, and barnacles. We did not know that! Eww!

Later on during our trip, when we were swimming in the ocean, we met a girl and a boy. We were playing with their floaty. The floaty blew into the rocks. I said I would get it. The girl lifted me over, and I grabbed the floaty with my hand and... OUCH! I felt a sharp, shooting pain in my thumb. I got out of the water quickly and went right to my dad. I was crying. I showed my dad. There was a little black sliver in my thumb. I thought it was a sliver from my hand sliding across a rock. My dad took me to the nurse since it hurt too much to push on it. 

This is my thumb. Can you see the little black sliver?

At the nurse station,  we had to wait because there was another patient. I was so scared. I walked in slowly and the nurse said hi.  I sat down and she looked at my thumb. She told us right away that it was a sea urchin sting. WHAT?! My little friendly sea urchins betrayed me! The nurse got some vinegar out. I asked her if it would hurt. She said that it wouldn't. She poured it on, and it did not hurt at all. I was surprised a lot. I thought it was going to be shooting pain! She said to wash it frequently. She put a bandaid on it before we left. 

This is the nurse station where I went for my sea urchin sting.

My mom went back to the rocks to investigate. She took pictures where I got stung. What she found was TERRIFYING! My mom showed me pictures of what she found under the water stuck on the rocks.  It looked nothing like my other little sea urchin friends! These sea urchins had long spikes, NOT LITTLE SPIKES.

The sea urchin that stung me.

I learned a lot about sea urchins. It was fun finding them , but not so fun getting stung by one! On our next trip to Jamaica, I will be careful.