Deadly Sea Wasp Box Jellyfish
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Deadly Sea Wasp Box Jellyfish
YouTube - Deadly Sea Wasp Box Jellyfish
Found this, seems urine is no good but the thought was there :)
Travel Safety - Jellyfish
I reckon the urine idea came from Germans :)
^ Nah, that would be crapping . . . ask DJPat, seems to be his speciality
Yeah but the urine bit leads to the crapping bit, everybody has heard the urine rumour, so as she lays there screaming with a stream of urine going all over and realising that it doesn't work, Herman suggest that he thinks he read somewhere that poo helps :)
Was stung by a jellyfish (no idea what type) off Khao Takiab beach, Hua Hin about 6 years ago. The sting left a large patch on my leg for about a year. Interestingly enough I got sick from some sort of viral infection about a year after it had faded & the bloomin' sting mark came back & lasted a couple of months...Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
^^ Herman The German is a scatologist? :tieme:
Calls for jellyfish warnings
Saturday, 31 January , 2009
Reporter: Kerrin McKechnie
ELIZABETH JACKSON: For Australian tourists travelling to Thailand there've been warnings about terrorist threats and political instability, but nowhere has the travel advice contained warnings about fatal jellyfish stings.
One Australian man is working hard to change l that after his son was nearly killed by a box jellyfish while the family was holidaying at a Thai beach.
Kirrin McKechnie reports.
KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Last Summer, Andrew Jones took his young family on a dream holiday to Thailand.
But when his four-year-old son Lewis was stung by a box jellyfish while swimming off a small beach, things quickly became the stuff of nightmares.
ANDREW JONES: All of a sudden he stopped and screamed a really horrible scream, I never heard it before and I never want to hear it again.
So I just raced out into the water and pulled him out onto the beach and he was absolutely hysterical and it was really only, it took a little while to register that it was in fact a jelly fish.
We had a pretty traumatic time from that moment on to try and firstly save his life, as he ran in to a spot of bother, he went straight into cardiac and respiratory arrest.
KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: A quick thinking chef from a nearby resort threw vinegar on the four-year-old's wounds. It saved the little boy's life.
Andrew Jones says he would never let his family swim off the North Queensland coast because of fears of stingers, but he had no idea the waters around Thailand were just as dangerous.
ANDREW JONES: And the horror of it was the fact that we knew nothing about there even being box jellyfish in this area; there's no signage, obviously this is Thailand.
But there's no warnings from anybody there that they might be around, whereas you see lots of warnings in places like Queensland and the Northern Territory
The box jellyfish is renowned to be probably the most venomous creature on the planet and when it wraps its tentacles around a little four year old it can cause some serious damage. So in actual fact he's lucky to be alive.
KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: Since then, Andrew Jones has launched a dedicated campaign to make the beaches of Thailand safer.
He's travelled back to Bangkok, holding meetings with the Thai Government, local scientists and consular officials from Australia and other big tourist nations.
He says his biggest hurdle in raising awareness of stingers has been a massive resistance from tourism operators, worried about the bad publicity.
ANDREW JONES: Several years earlier, 2002, a Melbourne man had been stung and actually died on Koh Samui and the authorities there actually tried to cover this up.
There were signs put up on the beach warning tourists of the problem, but all the local operators pulled those down.
KIRRIN MCKECHNIE: But last year Mr Jones teamed up with jellyfish expert Lisa Gershwin and the pair have made real progress.
As the curator of natural science at the Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston, Lisa Gershwin says the key has been knocking down cultural boundaries that made fatal jellyfish stings go undetected by Thai authorities.
LISA GERSHWIN: I don't think it's that they ignoring the problem. I think it's that they simply didn't know.
Most of the people getting stung in Thailand are either fisherman in little villages and they don't require death certificates and there's kind of a cultural thing that if you get killed by the ocean it's because you pissed it off.
So there's these cultural beliefs and local customs that don't really make jellyfish fatalities something reportable.
ELIZABETH JACKSON: Lisa Gershwin with Kirrin McKechnie.
xxx.xxx.xx
So I assume the Thais are doing everything to make visitors aware of the danger and the means to treat victims are readily available?
^
I wouldn't :(
Quote:
He says his biggest hurdle in raising awareness of stingers has been a massive resistance from tourism operators, worried about the bad publicity.
Quote:
There were signs put up on the beach warning tourists of the problem, but all the local operators pulled those down.
An international team based in Australia including American jellyfish expert Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin held a series of workshops and seminars while also conducting fieldwork around Phuket and Koh Lanta in early April 2009.
Working closely with the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, the team addressed Thai marine biologists and fisheries reps, public health and tourism authority officials from dozens of coastal provinces, and numerous Consular officials, private hospital and travel/hospitality reps detailing scientific, medical and general facts about box jellyfish and irukandji in Thailand.
It is clear that the problem is more widespread than the 'official' fatality number of 4 western tourists in 10 years from large box jellyfish. There is also strong evidence of symptoms of Irukandji syndrome reported in many locations though closer monitoring to recognize these symptoms has to be undertaken at a local hospital/clinic level to ascertain the extend of this. Large irukandji called Morbakka exist in Thai waters and these animals have been associated with fatalities and serious envenomation in other countries. Also, aside from the injuries and death it has inflicted there is other clear evidence of a large chironex type box jellyfish in Thai waters.
Proper testing/sampling will be undertaken in strategic locations around Thailand to get a better indication of the scope of the issue which is at this moment unknown (biology, ecology, etc). Also a close bilateral program is being actioned to further progress local knowledge and assist with implementing an effective safety and education system.
In the meantime, make sure that vinegar is available when at the beach or off-shore (carry a bottle or ask the boat, hotel, bungalows etc to get some) just in case - the risk it is assumed is minimal but it just might pay to invest in a bottle (it also works on non-lethal jellyfish).
Dr Gershwin recommend's the following treatment:
Here's what's right according to scientific research:
1. Vinegar stops the undischarged stinging cells of box jellies and Irukandjis from being able to discharge. This is an instant and permanent effect. It works equally well with all colours and flavours of household vinegar, but less well with other types or concentrations of acids.
2. Vinegar causes discharge of stinging cells of some other types of jellyfish species -- all but one of these are known to be non-harmful compared to the box jellies and Irukandjis. Thus, causing discharge of these is of little medical consequence, whereas inhibiting discharge of box jellies and Irukandjis may save a life. The one that IS discharged by vinegar and is harmful is incredibly rare, having been last recorded in (I think, from memory) 1994.
3. Vinegar does not stop pain from stings. It stops further injury by stopping additional venom from entering the body. This may be critical in borderline envenomation cases.
4. Freshwater causes all marine stinging cells to discharge through a process called osmotic action. This simply involves molecular uptake of H2O across the salinity gradient and across the cell wall, until the nematocyst (= stinging cell) ruptures, with the typical weakest point being the capsule operculum (lid). If the stinging cells happen to be facing toward your skin when this happens (likely if they have been left there by a jellyfish), then penetration through the skin (and injection of venom) is likely.
5. Heat causes capillary dilation, which is thought to potentially increase both the speed and amount of venom uptake. This could be critical in borderline envenomation cases.
6. Heat reduces pain through various neurological processes in the body, not through venom denaturation, as is commonly thought. Jellyfish venoms denature rapidly at 60 degrees C. At lower temperatures, venom denaturation would take longer than the venom would remain at the sting site, particularly if capillary dilation were acting to transfer the venom into the blood stream.
The current recommendation from the Australian Resuscitation Council is (paraphrased):
1. For any known or suspected box jellyfish or Irukandji sting, use vinegar.
2. For any TROPICAL sting of unknown origin, use vinegar.
3. For CONFIRMED bluebottle stings OUTSIDE THE TROPICS, rinse well with seawater, then immerse in 45 degree C water for 20 minutes; if 45 degree C water for 20 minutes is unavailable or the temperature cannot be safely regulated, rinse well with seawater then use ice for the pain.
4. For unknown stings OUTSIDE THE TROPICS, rinse well with seawater then use ice for the pain.
In other words, in the tropics, use vinegar. For boxies and Irukandjis, use vinegar. In Thailand, use vinegar. Outside the tropics only use hot water if you know for sure it is a blue bottle (not because there's anything peculiar about blue bottles and hot water, just because the Australian bluebottle, Physalia utriculus, is highly unlikely to kill, and causes tens of thousands of stings per year along temperate Australian beaches).
Sincerely, Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin
Director, Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services
I have just returned from Borneo.
I visited an island 15 minutes out of Kota Kinabulu, whilst I was there the life guards pulled a box jelly fish out of the ocean and started showing us. They did have viniger on standby so seams to be there common but at only certain times of the year same as Northern Australia.
I foking shit ten shades of shite as being an Aussie we know how deadly some of the specie can be.
People usually die from a combination of toxen and over whelming pain.
Fok that mateys. :confused:
^ Did you go diving near the Tunku Abdul Rhaman reserve? Excellent area for it!
Amazing...this thread is only #38 post long and has had over 57000 views...
goggle at its best...
A few more than that now klongy, teakdoor must be the leading authority on nasty killer jellyfish :)
So the original OP was 2008...so what the status now??? Boxes everywhere or what...I live in Trang and regularly go to the beach with my 6mth old daughter...now we do get dead j/fish on the beaches...which obviously means they are pretty prevelant in the sea...so how big are these buggers and how close to shore do they generally come???
I heard that the Anderman sea has quite a large tiger shark population around the coastal waters of thailand!!! not that bothered about them as my diving days are nearly numbered with having the nipper..missus loves to snorkel but 6mth old can't do shit :)
Anyway we have loads of mangrove forests here which means brakish water...which in turn should then mean box jellfish if I'm not mistaken...seems to make sense to me...if they are coming up the coast from OZ etc to Phuket they've gotta pass Trang...the islands here are amazing and well I don't wanna be stuck 2-3hrs from the mainland with only local thai's to help my fat ass should there be a problem!
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/943.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/944.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/945.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/946.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/947.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/948.jpg https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/949.jpg there bloody tiny...ow you gonna see that??? especially if the waters murky...like in Trang...(excluding the islands..where it's crystal clear!!!!)
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifhttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/950.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/951.jpghttps://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifhttps://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/05/952.jpg Nasty little buggers...and the one on the knees was apparently a fatality!!!
Swedish Woman Killed By Poisonous Jellyfish?
21.11.2010
A poisonous jellyfish may have killed a Swedish woman in Cha-Am.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
A poisonous jellyfish may have killed a Swedish woman in Cha-Am. Ann Nordh, 59, from Jonkoping died last Sunday in the resort of Cha-am in Thailand when she went swimming, writes the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.
Ann Nordh, 59, from Jonkoping died last Sunday in the resort of Cha-am in Thailand when she went swimming, writes the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.
An autopsy will later determine the cause of death. But according to the hospital she was taken to its most likely that she has been in contact a deadly jellyfish. Ann Nordh was in Thailand on holiday together with her husband.
According to the marine biology centre in Phuket, the box jellyfish has become more common in recent years in the waters off Malaysia and Thailand - popular winter destinations for hordes of Swedish tourists.
The centre issued an official warning last winter when an unusual number of the deadly jellyfish were found off the coast.
Original news source: Svenska kan ha dödats av manet | Nyheter | Aftonbladet
scandasia.com
Look at the number of views on this thread! I know it's two years old - still - more than 250,000!
261,000
Swedish Tour Operators Hiding the Threat of Deadly Jellyfish?
22.11.2010
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has reported on another Scandinavian fatality in Thailand following a box jellyfish sting.
Ann Nordh, 59, from Jonkoping, was in Thailand on holiday with her husband. She died last Sunday in the Thai resort of Cha-am, after contact with a suspected deadly box jellyfish.
This follows the case of another Swedish tourist, Moa Bergman, aged 11, who was killed by a jellyfish off the tourist island of Koh Lanta in Thailand in 2008, and another case in Malaysia, earlier this year, when a Swedish tourist, Carina Lofgren died a quick but painful death after a box jellyfish attack.
In Carina's case, there was strong suspicion of a cover-up by the Malaysian authorities.
The doctor wrote "drowning" in my wife's autopsy report, says widower Ronnie Löfgren.
Ronny was just three feet behind his wife Carina, 45, when the deadly jellyfish attacked.
“Suddenly she started screaming and scratched her legs frantically. I understood immediately that it was a jellyfish attack " he says.
A few minutes later Carina Löfgren died in her husband's arms. He could still see the tentacles around his wife’s legs.
The accident occurred in February on the island of Langkawi in Malaysia.
“The doctor concluded that drowning was the sole cause of Carina's death.
But that's bullshit. I saw the jellyfish and the damage it caused”.
“The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Malaysians want to hide the truth about the dangers of the deadly jellyfish.
They are terrified of the fact that jellyfish can scare away tourists, "he says.
There are similar fears of a cover up in Thailand from Scandinavian tour operators fearful of losing custom if the prevalence of box jellyfish becomes widely known.
Aftonbladet reported that Swedish tour operators are still playing down the threat, and only warning holidaymakers locally about the risks, when they arrive at their hotels.
Thai authorities are aware, and according to the marine biology centre in Phuket, box jellyfish have become more common in recent years in the waters off Malaysia and Thailand.
The centre issued an official warning last winter when an unusual number of the deadly jellyfish were found off the coast.
scandasia.com
No Phuket Deaths from Box Jellyfish: Expert Shocked at Misinformation
Alan Morison
Monday, November 22, 2010
THE recent death of a Swedish tourist from box jellyfish stings in the Thailand-Malaysia region was confirmed today by the Swedish honorary consul for Phuket and the Andaman region, Dr Sompoch Nipakanont.
He said the fatality took place about two weeks ago in Cha-Am, a popular resort in the Gulf of Thailand - not on Phuket, as some newspapers in Thailand have been reporting.
''The Swedish woman died in Cha-Am, not on Phuket,'' he told Phuketwan today. ''Three Swedes have died from box jellyfish stings in the region in the past three years,'' he said.
Previous deaths have occurred in Langkawi, Malaysia, and on Koh Lanta in Krabi. Box jellyfish are known to be becoming more prevalent in South-East Asia and elsewhere in the world.
Precisely why Swedes appear to have fallen victim in three fatalities in three years is not clear. At this stage, it appears to be coincidence.
The Phuket Marine Biology Centre has led a campaign in Thailand and Malaysia to increase awareness about the growing dangers of box jellyfish, the world's most toxic creature, and its treatment.
A meeting of honorary consuls and embassy representatives with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha was told today that vinegar is an essential part of any first aid box on Phuket and along the Andaman coast, or anywhere that box jellyfish are liable to wander. Only vinegar reduces the toxicity of the potentially deadly box jellyfish tentacles.
Australia has experienced box jellyfish arriving in numbers at previously-clear tourist destinations.
Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin, who as Director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services is an acknowledged international expert on box jellyfish, told Phuketwan today that she was surprised at the misinformation being spread on one online site in Thailand that purports to be authoritative about the security and safety of expats.
''I was really struck by not the lack of information, but actually the MISINFORMATION that these commenters had,'' she wrote in an email. ''The consequence of this, of course, is that these are the people who have put themselves on the forefront of knowing, and what they know, in many of the cases in these comments, is flat dangerous.
''Their perceptions are a danger to themselves and to others.
''I think yes, in a strange way, there is a cover-up. But it is a far more sinister cover-up than one that could ever be created by the authorities - this is a cover up by the people who are most at risk - the people in the water, the tourists and the operators.
''I don't think this is a cover up by tourist operators to save money - I believe that this is a cover up by tourists and other recreational users of the water, who don't want to believe that they themselves are at risk of something that they have never seen.''
Dr Gershwin visited Phuket last year and gave several seminars on box jellyfish as well as another dangerous marine creature known as an irakanji, and offered her advice on techniques to treat people who have been stung.
She had a lot more to say about box jellyfish and misinformation today. Here's what she told Phuketwan via email:
1) if the government or operators say there is a problem, the tourists and visitors don't want to believe it - in this way, it is extremely difficult for the authorities to institute any program of education, awareness or improving safety
2) if the tourists and visitors don't believe that there is a problem, they are unlikely to urge or even cooperate with any sort of governmental assistance to manage the problem.
So then, is the whole thing left to the gods? No, I don't think so. But I think it means that the government and the operators have a very difficult challenge on their hands:
- if they do nothing, people will die and deaths will inevitably negatively affect tourism - we live in an age of information, and it is impossible to hide;
- if they wait for the public to demand action, it may never happen, or more likely, it will happen all at once when "one too many" people die, whatever that number is - we will never know what that number is, until it becomes a massive media thing like happened here in 2002, and many millions of tourism dollars will be lost with a very long ripple effect.
- if they begin taking action without the proper education to accompany it, the public won't believe it and may be scared off by it, and it will likely fail;
- if they begin an awareness and education campaign without the proper actions to accompany them, the public won't believe it because it will ring hollow, and it will likely fail;
- if they get it right, the actions and education will be credible, and the public will believe it, and the actions will be effective, and the public will embrace it, and safety will improve and very likely be an asset to tourism - but how?
This is very tricky.... and a lot is at stake... not just tourism dollars, and not just life and death, but also public confidence and trust, which takes a lot longer to recover once broken
My advice:
The people in the water need to believe there is a problem, and just as importantly, that it is manageable. Without these two beliefs, there is really nothing the operators can do to protect anyone, and there is really nothing the government can do either.
What I have read in the comments to the story [on the Thai Visa chat site] clearly illustrates that these two beliefs are not in place. It all comes down to awareness and education. It worked in the Whitsundays, [a popular Australian destination] which was just as in denial and more hostile (there were death threats against me), but it worked.
And now the Whitsundays tourism industry is doing well, and the stingers are largely managed and no longer scary or a taboo subject. And when stings occur, they are well managed, as are the media stories surrounding them, of which there are plenty.
I think the best strategy for Thailand would be to not concentrate on education of Thai operators, per se, although that is necessary too, but rather aim for a more globally-orientated stinger awareness.
I guarantee that the operators will respond as the tourists dictate (because they have to in order to stay in business). But the tourists have to see that there is a **manageable problem** in a pro-active and balanced way, rather than leaving it to the fickle hands of panic after one too many deaths occurs.
It does no good to compare jellyfish fatalities to road accidents, because the typical person just is not afraid of road accidents (though they should be!), but they are afraid of jellyfish because it's the unknown, and it also impinges on their recreation time when they don't want to have to think about dangers.
And it does no good to compare jellyfish fatalities to elephant attacks, because elephant attacks are too abstract and most people will never be in a situation where there is any risk to them at all; but with jellyfish, the reality is that there is a danger when you enter their habitat, and you can't see them, and that is very scary to a lot of people.
It is not the fatalities that will cripple the tourism industry, it is tourists' fear that it could happen to them and that there are no safeguards in place to protect them. This is the part that must be managed, the fear and the vulnerability.
Of course that comes from managing the fatalities, but not really - I mean, you can have no fatalities and still have a tourism problem because of fear - it's just that fatalities tend to imply that it is not being managed **enough**, and the consequences can be disastrous.
phuketwan.com
and once again I would like to highlight the above .Quote:
Originally Posted by Mid
I've said it before: put a big fucking sign up with some of these pictures and it will stop the stupid Russians going into the sea at Karon and drowning.
(BTW, does pissing on the stings still work?)
NO , never did and never willQuote:
Originally Posted by harrybarracuda
ffs VINEGAR is the answer
.."This follows the case" of a "2008" case... Well, it followed by 2 years.. come on. People are supposed to know there are big friggen jelly fish - Portuguese Man O War I think is the correct term..
Yes they should have signs up.. but swimming in the ocean is risky, drowing more likely, but get over it. Or don't go swimmin' in the ocean.