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Teenager dies after box jellyfish sting at Queensland beach

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Mark Angelo Ligmayo, 14, who had recently moved to Australia from the Philippines, was stung while in waist-high water at Eimeo beach near Mackay

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What You Want to Know About Box Jellyfish Stings

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What You Want to Know About Box Jellyfish Stings

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Box jellyfish, also known as 'stingers', are a highly venomous aquatic animal. Prevention is key, but learning the symptoms before a beach vacation can help you get fast treatment. Their sting can cause paralysis and, in some cases, death.

What Is a Box Jellyfish?

A box jellyfish has a body that looks like a box with lots of tentacles covered in venom-filled stingers. Box jellyfish live in warm waters all over the world, but the most dangerous kinds are found near the coasts of northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.

The Australian box jellyfish is the biggest and most venomous species and has tentacles up to 10 feet long. Unlike other kinds of jellyfish, box jellyfish can swim and see. They mainly eat shrimp and small fish.

Jellyfish use stingers to protect themselves and kill prey. If you accidentally brush against a tentacle, the stingers pierce into the skin and produce venom, which then enters the bloodstream.

Preventing a Box Jellyfish Sting

Take the following precautions to prevent getting stung by a box jellyfish:

Avoid swimming near tropical coastlines during jellyfish season, which is between November and April.

Wear a wetsuit or other protective clothing when swimming or diving.

Wear waterproof sandals or shoes when walking through shallow water.

Stamp and scrape your feet to make sea creatures aware of your presence.

Don't touch dead jellyfish that have washed up on shore.

Rainy and windy weather can deter box jellyfish, so it's better to swim in these conditions than on a sunny day.

Symptoms of a Box Jellyfish Sting

Box jellyfish are commonly found in waters off the tropical Australian coast. Take extra care when swimming in these areas. The main symptoms and signs of a box jellyfish sting include:

Burning pain in the skin

Welts in the skin, usually in a "whip" pattern

Tentacles from the jellyfish stuck onto the skin

Unusual behavior due to pain

Whether a sting is serious depends on the size of the jellyfish. If the main body, known as the bell, of a box jellyfish measures over 15cm, then the sting is likely dangerous.

Continued

Symptoms of Irukandji Syndrome

While death from jellyfish stings is rare, it's more common with stings from box jellyfish. Up to two hours from the sting, you may develop a life-threatening condition called Irukandji syndrome. The symptoms include:

If the length of the welts on the skin measure over 70cm altogether, or around two feet, seek medical attention immediately because unconsciousness and death are likely to follow.

Treatments for a Box Jellyfish Sting

If a box jellyfish stings someone, take the following measures:

Take the person out of the water carefully

Apply vinegar to the sting for 30 seconds

Check the person's pulse and breathing regularly

Call an ambulance in case of an emergency

Many beaches in Australia have clearly marked stations offering vinegar for the public for this very creature. But if you don't have access to vinegar, you should remove any tentacles from the sting carefully before washing the area with seawater. Start resuscitation if the person has stopped breathing.

Risk Factors for a Box Jellyfish Sting

Box jellyfish stings occur often in:

Tropical Australian waters between November and April

Adult men swimming in water less than 100m deep

People swimming between 3 PM and 6 PM during an outbound tide

Children

Around 37% of strings occur in children, who are most vulnerable to stings because of their smaller bodies.

Complications of a Box Jellyfish Sting

Complications of a box jellyfish sting may include a delayed sensitivity reaction, which can happen a week or two after a sting and cause the following symptoms at the affected site:

Minor stings can be treated at home with ice packs, pain medication, antibiotic ointments, and bandages.

If you've had a severe reaction, you may be in the hospital for a few days for treatment with antivenom, which is an immunizing agent that can only be given under a doctor's supervision.

Sources

SOURCES:

DermNet NZ: "Australian Box Jellyfish Stings."

Mayo Clinic: "Jellyfish Stings", "Antivenin (Crotalidae) Polyvalent (Injection Route)."

National Ocean Service: "What is the most venomous marine animal?"

Queensland Ambulance Service: "Box Jellyfish."

StatPearls: "Irukandji Syndrome."

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Box jellyfish, also known as 'stingers', are a highly venomous aquatic animal. Prevention is key, but learning the symptoms before a beach vacation can help you get fast treatment. Their sting can cause paralysis and, in some cases, death. A box jellyfish has a body that looks like a box with lots of tentacles covered in venom-filled stingers.

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What is the Most Venomous Marine Animal?

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What is the Most Venomous Marine Animal?

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Carybdea branchi, pictured here, is a relative of the Australian box jellyfish ( Chironex fleckeri), which is considered the most venomous marine animal. (Image courtesy of Brent Viljoen)

They may not look dangerous, but the sting from a box jellyfish could be enough to send you to Davy Jones's locker-a watery grave, that is.

Box jellyfish, named for their body shape, have tentacles covered in biological booby traps known as nematocysts - tiny darts loaded with poison. People and animals unfortunate enough to be injected with this poison may experience paralysis, cardiac arrest, and even death, all within a few minutes of being stung. But don't choose the mountains over the ocean just yet. Of the 50 or so species of box jellyfish, also called sea wasps, only a few have venom that can be lethal to humans.

While box jellyfish are found in warm coastal waters around the world, the lethal varieties are found primarily in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia. This includes the Australian box jellyfish ( Chironex fleckeri), considered the most venomous marine animal. Chironex fleckeri is the largest of the box jellyfish, with body sizes reaching up to one foot in diameter and thick, bootlace-like tentacles up to 10 feet long.

Box jellyfish have traits that set them apart from other jellyfish. Most notably, box jellyfish can swim-at maximum speeds approaching four knots -whereas most species of jellyfish float wherever the current takes them, with little control over their direction. Box jellyfish can also see. They have clusters of eyes on each side of the box. Some of these eyes are surprisingly sophisticated, with a lens and cornea, an iris that can contract in bright light, and a retina.

Their speed and vision leads some researchers to believe that box jellyfish actively hunt their prey, mainly shrimp and small fish.

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What is the most venomous marine animal?

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They may not look dangerous, but the sting from a box jellyfish could be enough to send you to Davy Jones's locker-a watery grave, that is. Box jellyfish, named for their body shape, have tentacles covered in biological booby traps known as nematocysts - tiny darts loaded with poison.

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Common Name:

Box Jellyfish

Group Name:

Fluther, smack

Average Life Span In The Wild:

Up to 1 years

Size:

10 feet long; 10 inches across

Size relative to a 6-ft man:

The infamous box jellyfish developed its frighteningly powerful venom to instantly stun or kill prey, like fish and shrimp, so their struggle to escape wouldn't damage its delicate tentacles.

Venom

Their venom is considered to be among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. It is so overpoweringly painful, human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors can experience considerable pain for weeks and often have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact.

Range and Appearance

Box jellies, also called sea wasps and marine stingers, live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are pale blue and transparent in color and get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell.

Tentacles

Up to 15 tentacles grow from each corner of the bell and can reach 10 feet in length. Each tentacle has about 5,000 stinging cells, which are triggered not by touch but by the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its prey.

Highly-Advanced Adaptations

Box jellies are highly advanced among jellyfish. They have developed the ability to move rather than just drift, jetting at up to four knots through the water. They also have eyes grouped in clusters of six on the four sides of their bell. Each cluster includes a pair of eyes with a sophisticated lens, retina, iris and cornea, although without a central nervous system, scientists aren't sure how they process what they see.

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Find out why the notorious box jellyfish deserves its loathsome reputation. The animal's toxins are among the strongest found in nature.

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How a Great White Shark Strikes | Shark Attack Files

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Why Great White Sharks are Amazing Hunters

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Why Great White Sharks are Amazing Hunters

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Great white sharks have become one of the most feared sea creatures in the world because of their aggressive nature and their ability to kill humans. But new research suggests great white shark attacks on humans aren't on purpose but rather because the predator has terrible eyesight.

It has long been thought that the reason sharks attack humans is because they mistake us as seals, which are one of the most common meals for sharks. To test out the theory, a team of researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, took underwater camera footage to capture a shark's point of view of floats, seals and sea lions swimming, as well as humans swimming with and without different-size surfboards.

To record the various movements, the team used an underwater camera and set it to the speed a typical white shark would be swimming. Then footage was altered to simulate how a baby shark would process the shapes and movements. The results, which were published in the Journal of the Royal Society last week, confirmed the long-thought theory.

"The results were illuminating: to a juvenile white shark, when humans swim and paddle surfboards, they bear a strong resemblance to seals and sea-lions," Laura Ryan, neurobiologist at Macquarie University and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

"We found that surfers, swimmers and pinnipeds (seals and sea-lions) on the surface of the ocean will look the same to a white shark looking up from below, because these sharks can't see fine details or colours."

The findings indicated surfers are the most at-risk for being fatally bitten by a baby white shark, but those with longer boards are more likely to be attacked because smaller surfboards don't appear to be the same size as seals or sea lions, which can grow up to 10 feet long. The likelihood of the sharks being completely color-blind also makes it hard to distinguish boards and human clothing from potential food.

The great white shark is responsible for the most unprovoked attacks of any other shark in the world, according to the Florida Museum. There have been 333 recorded white shark attacks in history; 52 of them were fatal. The next two most-attacking sharks, the tiger and bull, have a combined 248 attacks with 59 deaths.
Deadly animals: Shark attacks: 2020 was an 'unusually deadly year' for shark attacks, with the most deaths since 2013 Here are the deadliest wild animals in North America - and states with the most fatal attacks Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
Nathan Hart, director of the university's neurobiology department and co-author of the study, said baby white sharks are also learning how to hunt for bigger food like seals, which is a "learning process that could be prone to mistakes." By the time they are experienced hunters, they can tell what is and isn't food.

The researchers are trying to find new ways to help keep humans safe from attacks, such as the use of LED lights to change silhouette shapes. Doing so would also make sharks safe from attack-prevention tactics such as netting, the team said.

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You look like a seal - at least to a baby great white shark, study suggests

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Great white sharks have become one of the most feared sea creatures in the world because of their aggressive nature and their ability to kill humans. But new research suggests great white shark attacks on humans aren't on purpose but rather because the predator has terrible eyesight.

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Common Name:

Great White Shark

Scientific Name:

Carcharodon carcharias

Group Name:

School, shoal

Size:

15 feet to more than 20 feet

Size relative to a bus:

About great white sharks

While the shark in Jaws was inspired by a great white shark in New Jersey, the legendary fish is far less fearsome in reality. As scientific research on these elusive predators increases, their image as mindless killing machines is beginning to fade.

Found in cool, coastal waters around the world, great whites are the largest predatory fish on Earth. They grow to an average of 15 feet in length, though specimens exceeding 20 feet and weighing up to 5,000 pounds have been recorded.

They have slate-gray upper bodies to blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor, but they get their name from their white underbellies. They're streamlined, torpedo-shaped swimmers with powerful tails that can propel them through the water at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. They can even leave the water completely, breaching like whales when attacking prey from underneath.

Hunting and diet

Highly adapted predators, their mouths are lined with up to 300 serrated, triangular teeth arranged in several rows, and they have an exceptional sense of smell to detect prey. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. Their prey includes other sharks, crustaceans, molluscs, and sea birds. Larger whtie sharks will also prey on sea lions, seals, and small toothed whales like orcas. The species has even been seen feeding on dead whales.

Shark attacks

Of the 100-plus annual shark attacks worldwide, a third to a half are attributed to great white sharks. Most of these, however, are not fatal. Research finds that great whites, which are naturally curious, often "sample bite" then release their human target. It's not a terribly comforting distinction, but it does indicate that humans are not actually on the great white's menu. Fatal attacks, experts say, are typically cases of mistaken identity: Swimmers and surfers can look a lot like their favorite prey-seals-when seen from below.

Population and conservation

There is no reliable population data for the great white shark, but scientists agree that their number are decreasing precipitously. Overfishing and getting accidentally caught in fishing nets are their two biggest threats. The species is classified as vulnerable-one step away from endangered-by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

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Common Name: Great White Shark Scientific Name: Carcharodon carcharias Group Name: School, shoal Size: 15 feet to more than 20 feet Size relative to a bus: While the shark in Jaws was inspired by a great white shark in New Jersey, the legendary fish is far less fearsome in reality.

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Take a deep breath, gang, as we dive deep to get the lowdown on one of the ocean's deadliest predators, in our great white shark facts!
Great white shark facts

1) Great white sharks can be found throughout the world's oceans, mostly in cool waters close to the coast.

2) These super swimmers are the largest predatory fish (fish that eat other fish or animals) on our planet. On average, they grow to around 4.6m long, but some great whites have been measured at 6m - that's half the length of a bus!

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3) Great white sharks are grey with a white underbelly, from where they get their name. They have a streamlined shape and powerful tails that propel them through the water at over 60km per hour!

4) Any creature unlucky enough to find itself in the gob of a great white is in for a nasty shock! Because this marine beast's mouth is equipped with a set of 300 sharp, triangular teeth arranged in up to seven rows. Yikes! Let's take a closer look, if you dare...

5) Whilst many think of these beasts as fearsome man-eaters, humans aren't, in fact, on the great white's menu. Phew! There are around 5-10 attacks a year, but researchers believe that, rather than preying on humans to eat them, the sharks are instead taking a "sample bite" out of curiosity, before swimming off.

6) So what do they eat? Well, when they're young, they feed on small prey, such as fish and rays. But when they're older and bigger, they generally feast on sea mammals such as sea lions, seals and small whales.

7) Great white sharks have such a strong sense of smell that they can detect a colony of seals two miles away. And check this out - if there was only one drop of blood in 100 litres of water, a great white would smell it!

8) These cunning creatures like to take their prey by surprise. They usually position themselves underneath their unsuspecting victims before swimming up and...chomp! They often burst out of the water in a leap (called a breach) before falling back in with their meal in their mouths.

Great white sharks are at the top of the food chain and aren't likely to be killed by other sea creatures. Sadly, however, they are under serious threat by human activity. Illegal hunting of these beautiful beasts, and overfishing, have meant that today great white sharks are a
9) When a great white gives birth, she usually has two to ten youngsters, called " pups". But she shows no care for her offspring - in fact, she may even try to eat them! Taking care of themselves, the newborn pups will immediately swim off into the ocean.

10) species on the vulnerable IUCN Red List.

Love reading about magnificent marine life? Sink your teeth into our super , check out our ocean's weirdest creatures and 10 facts about bottlenose dolphins!

Image ⓒ Picture of great white shark near surface: Photograph by Natursports, Dreamstime. Picture of great white shark underwater: Photograph by Willtu, Dreamstime. Picture of great whie shark with mouth open: Photograph by Peternile, Dreamstime.

What did you make of our great white shark facts? Let us know by leaving us a comment, below!

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10 facts about great white sharks! - National Geographic Kids

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Join us here at NG Kids to learn ten facts about great white sharks! What do great white sharks eat? How big are they? Find out all about these fierce fish!