As millions of people journey to South Carolina beaches this summer, some will share the water with unwelcome companions. Dubbed sea poisoning, ocean itch and even seabather’s eruption, sea lice can sully a beach day with itchy, stinging rashes.
Despite their parasitic moniker, sea lice aren’t actually lice. They don’t suck blood or have much in common with head lice.
“’Sea lice’ is an umbrella term that many people use to describe a wide variety of tiny, stinging plankton or nekton,” said South Carolina Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Erin Weeks in an email. “These can include sea butterflies (pteropods, a type of sea snails), jellyfish larvae, blue crab larvae, and other unidentified crustacean larvae.”…