Recently beach lifeguards came across two exceptionally large live jellyfish that washed onshore. The discovery turned out to be potentially life saving, as the box jellies were capable of killing 60 swimmers each.
Jellyfish are fairly common sights on beaches and usually they don’t pose a threat to humans. However that wasn't the case in North Queensland.
Recently beach lifeguards came across two exceptionally large live jellyfish that washed onshore. The discovery turned out to be potentially life saving, as the box jellies were capable of killing 60 swimmers each.
Said a local researcher and marine stinger exert, Dr. Lisa Gershwin “Whenever we see even young box jellies, we need to take on board the fact they hang together in groups of mixed sizes. Finding big ones is a really strong reminder that there are big, venomous ones out there, which are highly toxic and rapidly deadly.”
Typically when lifeguards stumble across jellyfish, they are donated to universities for study purposes. But given the surprising size of these two, the team was unprepared to transport them. They were buried in the sand and left to decompose quickly.
The jellies measured nearly a foot in bell diameter. Seagoers have been reminded to visit lifeguard protected beaches and to swim in between the stingers’ enclosures for safety.
