Box Jelly Fish, dangers on the great barrier reef — This ridiculous creature typically is only 20cm long.
You have virtually no chance of surviving the venomous sting, unless treated immediately. The pain is so excruciating and overwhelming that you would most likely go into shock and drown before reaching the shore. So don’t go swimming alone! Be sure to know the first aid procedures.
And from this source there’s this tale:
At a glance, the sea wasp may appear like a jellyfish, but nothing could be further from the truth. Unlike true jellyfish, all box jellyfish can swim. The sea wasp has been clocked at three knots or 3.35 miles per hour. Compared to true jellyfish that drift aimlessly on the wind and current, the sea wasp is a speed demon.
The body of a sea wasp may grow to be as large as a basketball. Long tentacles dangle from the four corners of the sea wasp’s body. Adults may have up to 15 tentacles, three meters long, on each corner.
The animal even has eyes, three on each corner. Two of the eyes in the set detect only light, giving the animal a sense of direction. The third eye is an image-forming eye complete with a lens, like our own eyes.
Another reason to avoid Australia.
found by Jae “Jellyfish Expert” Dvorak
The irukandji jelly fish is another deadly fish but with interesting side affects:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1158285.htm
It’s not just Australia, it’s the whole poor, doomed world Although the American type is better than the Aussie foreigners, there is a box jellyfish menace in Hawaii:
“For example, on a single day in July 2004, 318 people were stung at the tourist destination Waikiki, along with 45 stings at other beaches.”
http://www.jyi.org/features/ft.php?id=103
And I thought that the ultra poisonous Jellyfish WASP was Dick Cheney on a boat *grin*
There are way too many American tourists here now. So please heed the advice.
Stingers!! Thats what they call em up north. Tourists are advised to carry vinegar around with em to treat the stings.
Now that Hawaiian jellyfish isn’t a real jellyfish, this is a REAL jellyfish ….
Man, I seems like every animal you hear about from Australia will try to kill you, except maybe the koala bear and the kangaroo (the latter will just kick you in the nuts). What a great vacation spot!
I used to work in Darwin in the far north of Australia, beautiful beaches streaching for miles.
All completely empty for 9 months of the year as that was stinger season.
oh and the crocodiles also were a good reason not to take a dip.
Aparantly if you do not have vinegar to hand urine works as immediate first aid, so your day goes from bad to worse, not only have you been stung by something a lot more horrifying than plenty of movie monsters, but your mates get to p1ss on you .
Another wierd thnig with these jellyfish is their stingers are not long enought to get to your sking through a barrier like …pantyhose. so you see lifeguards and such making odd fasion statments on the beach.