The infamous box jellyfish (chrionex fleckeri) casts a long and dreadful shadow over the sun drenched beauty of the north Australian coast. Known also as the
sea wasp and the marine stinger, box jellyfish have killed about 65 people in the past century.
Box Jellyfish, also known as
sea wasp
Jetting through the water, these organisms are difficult to see. And even when spotted, they can seem as harmless as cotton candy. But in fact, the box jelly
is earth’s most venomous creature. According to the Surf Life Saving Association of Queensland, contact with the tentacles of the sea wasp can bring agonising death within
minutes. No other animal’s venom on either land or sea can kill a human in less than four minutes, depending on the area of contact. Even Australia’s most dangerous snake,
the taipan, carries enough venom to kill 30 adults, but its bite is not actually very painful, and it can take several hours for an untreated victim to die.
A large box jellyfish, however, has enough venom to kill 60 adults and the pain of the sting is instant, agonising, and unbearable. A lash of the sea wasp
against bare skin will feel like being branded with hot steel. Those who have survived an encounter with this species of jellyfish have been scared for life from the experience.
The victim’s breathing becomes quickly distressed as the venom is absorbed into the circulatory and lymphatic systems, and in some cases the heart’s pumping action slows, or
stops immediately.
Since the chrionex fleckeri only appear in the waters off the coast during the Australian summer, it was long thought that they migrated south from New
Guinea. At sea they feed on prawns and fish, but their favorite food is a small shrimp that schools along the same sandy beaches that Australians finds so popular in summer.
Fortunately for tourism, the box jellies do not live on the Great Barrier Reef, where more than a million visitors swim throughout the year. Nor do they haunt the beaches of
Australia’s Gold Coasts near Brisbane. But summer beach lovers have had to adjust their behaviour to the presence of lethal jellyfish along the shores of the Tropic of
Capricorn, which passes near the city of Rockhammon in the northeastern state of Queensland. Here, knowledgeable swimmers either stay in a safely netted area, or wear protective
clothing.
Australia’s chrionex
fleckeri, also known as the box jellyfish and the marine stinger
Of course, the box jellyfish does not intentionally sting humans. They simply react when their tentacles are brushed against. These tentacles have specialised
stinger capsules called nematocysts, each of which has a mechanical trigger. To fire, however, the stinger capsules must be stimulated chemically. That stimulation comes from
chemicals found on the surface of fish, shellfish, and unfortunately, the human skin.
The slowly pulsating translucent bells of the sea wasp are hard to see in northern Australia’s murky waters, and their tentacles are even less noticeable.
Many a swimmer has run screaming from the water, wearing angry red lesions on their skin, without ever having seen their assailant.
Although the stinger capsules are too short to puncture thin protective clothing, a single tentacle contains millions of capsules, which when spread across
skin and make the wounds very difficult to treat.
A snake or poisonous spider bites in a single spot, but the box jelly’s venom enters a victim’s body over a very large area. Fortunately an anti-venom has
been developed by laboratories in Australia which can be very effective. Sheep were injected with non-lethal doses of venom from the sea wasp. The sheep produced antibodies which
were then used to manufacture anti-venom. Medical personnel in the nation’s coastal waters carry supplies of this product and report treatment has been very effective.
