Video shows sand fleas swarming Florida beach | What a doctor says about the critters
By Meghan Moriarty
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SATELLITE BEACH, Florida (WESH) — A video on Facebook is catching a lot of attention. It shows what looks like an infestation of small, clear creatures digging in the sand in Satellite Beach.
“Sand fleas — the name is interesting because they actually are not fleas at all,” Dr. Case Tedder said. “They’re small crustaceans or part of the crab family, and they don’t bite. They get the name because they have the mechanism of jumping.”
Tedder is a family medicine physician with Orlando Health. He said, “Yes, they can jump, but otherwise, they’re safe.”
“They don’t carry any parasites and they don’t bite, so they’re totally harmless to humans,” Tedder said.
In fact, he said not only are they harmless, they actually are helpful to our beaches, marine life and even fishermen.
However, he does warn about sand flies. The insects are smaller than a mosquito and very common in Florida.
“We see those in backyards at the beach, and they can bite and cause irritation, inflammation and skin rashes,” Tedder said.
The woman who took the video, Denise Derrick-Wright, said she filmed it last week after a storm. She said in her 45 years, she’s never seen so many clusters in one area.
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