On Friday, September 05, 2003 8:53 AM, Mike Wallace wrote:

> http://www.cdnn.info/article/irukandji/irukandji.html
> [here is full text of the article, note there is no date -mg]

> Tiny But Deadly Irukandji Jellyfish Kills British Tourist
>       by Patrick Barkham

> British tourists Richard and Jean Jordan strolled down to one of the
> popular beaches on Queensland's Hamilton Island for a mid-morning swim. It
> was just another blissful day - temperatures had crept up to 31C (87F) -
of
> their holiday. Moments later, Mr Jordan walked into the Australian
island's
> medical centre complaining he had been stung by what he thought was a
> jellyfish. Barely 24 hours later, he was dead.

G'Day, Mike!  I don't know if this is the same one, but - from memory -
there was a similar incident last year sometime.  Since when there's been
little mention of it.  The one that I'm thinking of was, apparently a new
species.

> The deadly box jellyfish, the most venomous marine creature in the world,
> is also well known and well feared. They have caused at least 67 deaths in
> Australia, mostly on north Queensland beaches. But while nets at beaches
> can project bathers from box jellyfish, and sharks, they offer no
> protection against the Irukandji. In a normal summer season, lifeguards on
> Queensland beaches will treat anything up to 20,000 sting victims, many of
> them from the invisible Irukandji.

There are signs put up at all of the popular bathing beaches during the
summer season warning people about box jellyfish - Irukandji - and many of
the beaches now have fine sieve nets to prevent them entering the enclosure.
Occasionally, however, a free-floating tentacle - presumably the remains of
a turtle's meal, (they love the little buggers!) - still manages, because of
their fine size, to drift in.  They're not automatically fatal, but are
bloody painful! :-)

Because they're estuarine, they're rarely encountered out to sea on the reef
itself.  Although, once again, free-floating tentacles with intact
nematocysts are sometimes encountered, probably dragged out there attached
to a turtle.  (Three years ago, one of the guys on a liveaboard trip with us
received a slight but enormously painful contact with one while we were out
at the Ribbon Reefs.  His face swelled up like a balloon.)

Not all box jellyfish (cubomedusae's) are that venemous.  We frequently see
a variety here in Sydney, called a 'Jimble' that looks identical.  Two weeks
ago we encountered dozens of them on the outer reefs at Shelly Beach.
They're beautiful looking creatures and strong swimmers and while still
delivering a savage sting, they're not as feared as the Portuguese
Man-o'-War.  (We assumed that the large aggregation had something to do with
their breeding cycle?)  :-)

Strike