Thousands stung as jellyfish invade Australian beaches
More than 5,000 people stung along Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast beaches
At least 5,000 people have been stung by a “wall” of jellyfish along the coast of Queensland over the weekend, in what has been described as an unprecedented incident.
Popular beaches along the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast have been closed off after unusually strong swells drove thousands of small but potent bluebottle jellyfish - also known as the Indo-Pacific Portuguese man-of-war - onto the shoreline.
On Sunday alone, close to 1,000 people required medical treatment for bluebottle stings, in what Surf Life Saving duty officer Jeremy Sturges described as an “epidemic”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“I have never seen anything like this - ever,” he told SBS, adding that many of the jellyfish had ended up beached on the shore, meaning swimmers were not the only ones at risk.
“People have been hurt as they just walk along the shoreline,” he said. “Don’t pick it up, don’t walk on it or you will be stung.”
Bluebottle stings cause intense pain for up to an hour, and can leave behind an itchy or tender red mark, says Australian medical advice website My Dr.
They are not usually dangerous, but several bathers have been treated for anaphylactic shock after suffering an allergic reaction to the stings.
The “wall” of jellyfish has begun to disperse, but paramedics and lifeguards still treated more than 200 sting victims today, mostly on the Sunshine Coast.
Since the beginning of December, “22,282 people sought treatment for bluebottle stings”, the Australian Associated Press reports, more than three times the rate in the same period last year.
The estimate was greeted with surprise by Lisa-ann Gershwin, director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Service.
“Wow, that is unusual,” she told the Australian AP. “The numbers I have seen published are 25,000 to 45,000 per year for the whole of Australia.
“Those figures, the 22,282, are for about five weeks and that’s just one teeny tiny smidgen of Australia, so that is a lot.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The growing US movement to end child marriages
Under the Radar Practice is 'surprisingly widespread' but only 12 states have so far banned it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
Mouse keeps tidying up man's shed
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Dead' woman nearly suffocated in morgue bag
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published