Stingers hit three in three hours

SEVERAL Cairns beaches are expected to be closed to swimmers today, following a horror afternoon of irukandji jellyfish stings.

Paramedics transported three people, all under the age of 18, to Cairns Hospital within a three-hour period yesterday.

A seven-year-old boy was stung by one of the thumbnailsized jellyfish while swimming at Kewarra Beach about 2pm.

A five-year-old girl was then taken to hospital after she was stung at Palm Cove.

And then a 16-year-old boy was stung swimming at Palm Cove, about 6.30pm.

It is understood the boy who was stung at Kewarra Beach had been swimming inside the beach’s stinger enclosure, but did not develop symptoms of a marine envenomation until he was at home.

Surf Life Saving Queensland Far Northern regional manager Rob Davidson said surf life savers captured an irukandji jellyfish in their daily drag at Port Douglas earlier yesterday.

However, he said the jellyfish were not found during the daily routine at Kewarra Beach nor Palm Cove.

“Whatever’s happened to the tides with the weather this afternoon, these jellyfish are obviously within the shoreline,” he said.

The coastal rescue organisation would decide overnight what beaches – if any – are to be closed today.

Mr Davidson urged beachgoers to always take precautions during the high-risk stinger season, which traditionally runs from November until the end of May.

“We always recommend swimming inside the stinger net, and this year, with the current conditions, we would also recommend swimming with a full body Lycra suit,” he said.

He said life savers may recommend that pregnant women, and those with medical conditions, stay away from the water until jellyfish are no longer present at the beaches.