Lethal Pair of Jellyfish caught off Queensland Coast!

I don't often see "Biological" alerts on RSOE referring to actual critters of size. They usually mean bacteria or virus when they list an emergency or event as Biological in nature. Not this time...and WOW.... You wouldn't have wanted to run into these beasts in the water!

Two giant jellyfish captured off the Queensland coast would have been capable of killing 120 people, according to an expert. The lethal pair, each measuring 30cm in bell diameter, were discovered by lifeguards alive after washing ashore on Balgal Beach, 60km north of Townsville on Wednesday.

I guess every nation and region has it's natural threats. This is a particularly nasty one to my own thinking. I'd rather have a shark I can punch and see as a real tangible thing with eyes, a conventional body and a brain to think with than a mass of goo and tentacles able to sting me to death in moments.

Gershwin said the stingers' sheer girth suggested that they had survived from last summer. "We do sometimes see that size this early in the season, but they're probably last season's animals," she said, adding each of the marine stingers had the potential to kill 60 people, based on the number and length of each tentacle.

Source: RSOE

Have a good swim down under! (shivers)

Wrabbit2000
I don't often see "Biological" alerts on RSOE referring to actual critters of size. They usually mean bacteria or virus when they list an emergency or event as Biological in nature. Not this time...and WOW.... You wouldn't have wanted to run into these beasts in the water!

Two giant jellyfish captured off the Queensland coast would have been capable of killing 120 people, according to an expert. The lethal pair, each measuring 30cm in bell diameter, were discovered by lifeguards alive after washing ashore on Balgal Beach, 60km north of Townsville on Wednesday.

I guess every nation and region has it's natural threats. This is a particularly nasty one to my own thinking. I'd rather have a shark I can punch and see as a real tangible thing with eyes, a conventional body and a brain to think with than a mass of goo and tentacles able to sting me to death in moments.

Gershwin said the stingers' sheer girth suggested that they had survived from last summer. "We do sometimes see that size this early in the season, but they're probably last season's animals," she said, adding each of the marine stingers had the potential to kill 60 people, based on the number and length of each tentacle.

Source: RSOE

Have a good swim down under! (shivers)

its a rule of thumb down here to NEVER SWIM IN QLD!!!
salty crocs... box jellies, portugese man of war... just queenslanders themselves...

loves you bananbenders (:

reply to post by okamitengu


no picture!!! that sounds truly horrible ,to be stung by one of those, they could kill so many....gives me the heebee jeebees just thinking about it... what will be next???

reply to post by research100


Ahhh... Silly me. Because you asked, I deliver.

(Lethal jellyfish could have killed 120)

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Reminds me of Pac Man ghosts

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


That's scary.

Have you ever seen that bad movie called "Sphere"? That's what those remind me of.

I have always hated jellyfish. I refuse to visit TX beaches certain times of the year because them.

I guess it's the number of tentacles that makes these dangerous not the poison per say? Is there a difference between these and the ones found in places like Corpus?

Anyway, thanks for find. SF

just goes to show how tough marlin was saving dory (finding nemo)....

a couple of suckers that you do not want to get anywhere near.....

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


While those big squishy beasties are scary, the Box Jellyfish, only the size of one's thumnail and near invisible in the water are what would absolutely terrify me more.

The box jellyfish are deadly in the respect that even so tiny, they're deadly, and, when they kill you you basically get PAINed to death. Victims stung on even just a portion of their finger have been wracked with whole body pain for days on end, and, as I understand it, no sedatives or pain killers will work.

The box jelly, if I recall, has also been termed the most deadly venomous creature on the planet, and even when they're dead, those stingers are still cocked and ready to fire:

500,000 cnidocytes, containing nematocysts, a harpoon-shaped microscopic mechanism that injects venom into the victim.

I'm surprised no one has ever tried using these as particularly nasty tools in in the assassination trade.
plop one of the box jellies into someone's drink, or snip off some of its tiny tentacles and all it would take is one little sting on the lip and a person goes through complete total body PAIN until they die.

Here's a fun little paper on the venom itself (pdf link):
Venom Proteome of the Box Jellyfish Chironex fleckeri

Anyway, yeah, these tiny jellies, in my opinion are more horrifying in that they're essentially invisible, and only the size of one's thumbnail at that.
They could be anywhere!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


How could this cute little critter not get a mention?



He's called an Irukandji, and he's only an inch in diameter. And before you ask, yes it is deadly.

Symptoms include migraines, nausea, abdominal pains, hypertension, and eventually death. They are so small they can slip through shark nets, and it's sting has been described as being the worst pain imaginable.

And then there's the stone fish, the blue ring octopus, the cone shells...

This time of year, you wear stinger suits as a given.

Some believe; that the further off shore you get ie: outer GBR islands, no problem.

Wear the stinger suit or book a resort if you must swim unsupervised.

( By the way - there are other deadly thingies in those parts. But they are EPIC - bucket list stuff ! )

Two people in Australia are believed to have died from Irukandji stings.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite


A little fear mongering with the Irukandji it seems.

I can remember having recently spent time on the water there and the shock of hearing the news of
the first reported death by this -tiny nemesis.

However it seems there has to date - been only 2 deaths. ( 2 too many ! )

www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au...

Don't let that stop you from experiencing the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef !

reply to post by Timely

( By the way - there are other deadly thingies in those parts. But they are EPIC - bucket list stuff ! )

I have to remind myself sometimes, not every nation systematically attacked and wiped out every major predator species it came across from the earliest days onward. I don't know that we'd have found a way to cut down the numbers on these little beasties but then again, never underestimate the creativity of man when ethics and morality aren't a consideration. Still, I suppose for all it's dangers, Australia is still a special place for that lack of man's redefining the very balance of nature itself.

Having said that....I believe I'll take your advice on booking a resort for some safe and sane swimming if I should get the chance to wander down under for pure vacation some day.

Ah yes the Northern Queensland box jellyfish. Supposedly one of the most lethal creatures on Earth.

I just saw a documentary on these and they are nowhere near as lethal as I thought. Usually they just give a very painful sting and don't kill at all. A few people have been taken to hospital but lived. As said above only 2 deaths. Slipping over in the shower is probably more of a risk.

A great white shark, croc, taipan or tiger snake are probably much more dangerous. In the show the guy was actually stinging himself to see what works best. Vinegar stops the toxin.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

It sure is good to be a KIWI!!!

reply to post by JimTSpock


Star deserved, I also saw a Documentary ref the said Jellyfish. It was mentioned how such are born in certain Queensland rivers and to try and defeat such, Turtles were being shipped in, apparently the Turtles put the Jellyfish top of their menu.

reply to post by JimTSpock


Yeah. Box jellies are not so bad unless you're sensitive. But don't worry, you still have these little cuties. They will kill you.

This neurotoxin, known as Tetrodotoxin, will paralyse a human within seconds, causing unconsciousness. There is no known antidote, and only by applying continuous CPR for 24 hours would the victim have any chance of survival.

www.divernet.com...

hudsonhawk69
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

It sure is good to be a KIWI!!!

Ahhhhhhh No....... not if you're a Kiwi living in Queensland it isn't.

It's not so bad were I am though, although I never go swimming without the good old white vinegar at hand.

reply to post by hudsonhawk69


+1000 brother
We can go into the bush and all we have to worry about is wild pigs