Deadly jellyfish drink Experts gather creatures for antivenene
THESE containers may look like they are full of chocolate smoothies, but you definitely do not want to put this browncoloured liquid anywhere near your mouth.
Scientists from James Cook University have been busy collecting box jellyfish and irukandji jellyfish at Weipa and Palm Cove for a series of research projects.
JCU stinger expert Assistant Professor Jamie Seymour said his team from the Tropical Australian Stinger Research Unit was able to collect enough box jellyfish from Weipa late last week to be able to fill four large bottles with a mixture of the deadly sea creatures’ tentacles, for antivenene production.
“There’s enough venom in those bottles to kill three-quarters of a million people,” Dr Seymour said.
“They’ll all get processed and sent down to Melbourne, and that will be turned into antivenene for big box jellyfish.”
Palm Cove, Clifton and Kewarra beaches were all closed yesterday due to the presence of irukandji jellyfish, captured during daily drags by Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ).
Dr Seymour said his team was able to catch 83 of the thumbnail-sized creatures near Double Island, about 5km offshore from Palm Cove, on Friday night.
The irukandji will be used for cutting-edge research examining the chemical fingerprint – environmental DNA (eDNA) – left by the animals in seawater, so their presence may only need to be detected by taking a water sample.
Dr Seymour said it was still difficult to determine when irukandji jellyfish would emerge offshore.
“When everything goes right, we get lots of animals,” he said
“Usually we get them in twos and threes, and then during the season, everything seems to be right and we get a whole heap of animals.
“But we went out last night, and only got two, and we don’t know why.
“This is part of the issue: we just don’t know enough about the animals.”
SLSQ northern region manager Rob Davidson advised swimmers to always heed the advice of surf lifesavers at the region’s patrolled beaches.
“If you’re going to swim, the only safe place to swim is inside the red and yellow flags,” he said.
“The way to reduce your risk is by wearing a full length Lycra wet suit, or at the very least, a rashie shirt.”