Irukandji-jellyfish-queensland-australia

Jellyfish stings in Australia can cause pain, paralysis and death for swimmers with exposed skin. Numerous venomous species of jellyfish occur in Australian waters, including the

box jellyfish Box jellyfish (class Cubozoa) are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like (i.e. cube-shaped) body. Some species of box jellyfish produce potent venom delivered by contact with their tentacles. Stings from some species, including '' ...

and

Irukandji Jellyfish The Irukandji jellyfish ( ) are any of several similar, extremely venomous species of rare jellyfish. With a very small adult size of about a cubic centimetre (1 cm3), they are both the smallest and one of the most venomous jellyfish in th ...

. Box jellyfish are believed to have caused at least 69 deaths since record keeping began in 1883. Although they are commonly mistaken for jellyfish, bluebottles are actually siphonophores.

Numbers of stings

Irukandji are rarely found outside

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Between 1985 and 1997 from cases of Irukandji sting where location was recorded, there were 83.4% in Queensland, 9.1% in the Northern Territory, and 7.5% in Western Australia; 81.5% of cases occurred in the afternoon. In a fourteen-year period there were 660 Irukandji stings in Australia, which were recorded by Dr Fenner, a medical officer with Surf Lifesaving Australia. There were 159 Irukandji stings reported in Broome in a five-year period with 25% of those stung being hospitalised but no recorded deaths. There were 62 people reported being stung by Irukandji in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

in 1996; of these more than half occurred in December, 92% were stung on hotter than average days, with 63% occurring while swimming inside a stinger net enclosure on the beach. In summer 2001–02 there were 160 people stung by the middle of February, with around 100 of these in Cairns, and between 10 and 20 in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, the

Whitsundays The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...

, Great Keppel and

Agnes Water Agnes Water is a coastal town and a locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Agnes Water had a population of 2,729 people. Geography Agnes Water is in Central Queensland approximately south-east of the Bruce Highway, Q ...

.Stinging Jellyfish in tropical Australia
Reef Research Centre Northern Territory hospitals report approximately 40 jellyfish stings annually.

List of fatal stings

This is a list of fatal jellyfish stings that occurred in Australian territorial waters by decade in ''reverse chronological order''.

21st century

20th century

19th century

References

External links

Box Jellyfish, dangers on the Great Barrier Reefreefed.edu.au, Jellyfish
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514234112/http://www.reefed.edu.au/home/explorer/animals/marine_invertebrates/corals_and_jellyfish/jellyfish , date=14 May 2013
Stinging Jellyfish in tropical Australia
Reef Research Centre

Australian Venom Compendium

Jellyfish in Tropical North Australia *https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jul/29/stung-by-one-deadliest-creatures-earth-experience#img-1 Animal attacks in Australia Animal attacks Cubozoa