Box Jellyfish: Nets installed at Chaweng and Lamai on Samui in wake of tourist child death

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Daily News reported from Koh Samui after a nine year old child died on Koh Phangan as a result of stings from a deadly box jellyfish.

 

Nets have been installed by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources on Lamai and Chaweng Beaches to add to signs about the danger and posts containing vinegar - a standard first response treatment for stings. 

 

At Koh Phangan itself the media said the net there at Had Rin beach had been upgraded. 

 

Various kinds of jellyfish including boy jellyfish that can kill are particularly prevalent in the area from July to October, said Krissana Phromkoh the owner of Lamai Wantha Hotel as the net was installed outside her property.

 

Stings should be washed continually with vinegar and never touched as this can spread the toxin. Medical help must be sought immediately after a serious attack.

 

She said that tentacles from jellyfish can stretch 5 meters from the main body of the jellyfish. 

 

It is always safest to swim in areas surrounded by nets especially at this time of the year.

 

Daily News also published figures from Koh Samui Hospital for the number of stings from all kinds of jellyfish that were treated there:

 

2016 42 cases

2017 47 cases

2018 17 vases

2019 and 2020 8 cases each

2021 9 cases so far. 

 

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[ezzra]

Somehow those deadly box jellyfish, the rainy season, empty streets, shops and beaches and rising Covid infection rate in them sandbox palaces will not show on any of the TAT brochures i'm sure...

[ThaIrish Sean]

Horse, barn door, after, shutting, bolted................

 

 

 

[trainman34014]

If these Jellyfish are so dangerous how come there are not nets installed every year at this time ?  Another case of 'Why should we worry about Tourists health and safety matters'.  All they are ever interested in is extracting money; never spending any !

[MasterBaker]

i guess jellyfish didn't get sandbox memo

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, trainman34014 said:

If these Jellyfish are so dangerous how come there are not nets installed every year at this time ?  Another case of 'Why should we worry about Tourists health and safety matters'.  All they are ever interested in is extracting money; never spending any !

Because Box jellys are a rising issue with warming waters.. They were not sighted a couple of decades back, very very rare a decade back, and hence its a rising problem. 

[Burma Bill]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

stings from a deadly box jellyfish.

Being stung in the sea and by local vendors???

[crazykopite]

Some of the comments are a little insensitive a 9 year old boy just died having been stung a few days ago please show some respect . I understand his funeral was today ( Wednesday ) 

????????????????????RIP????????????????????

[Aussiepeter]

This is not the first death on Samui caused by deadly box jellyfish. I recall writing about this subject on here previously. Several years back two young German ladies were both stung severely by chironex (box) jellyfish after going for an early evening swim on Samui. Both girls were in their early twenties. One girl died, whilst the other was horribly disfigured and was air-evacuated in a critical condition to Germany. As usual in LOS, absolutely nothing was done to prevent it ever happening again. In the rainy season in northern Australia, these creatures are so common that nobody goes into the sea between November and March, unless they are in a netted safe swimming area or wearing protective clothing. Warning signs everywhere. Only last year a very fit indigenous teenager died in north Queensland after being stung by a box jellyfish. Warning signs in multiple languages and safety nets should have been installed on Samui & other islands years ago after the first fatalities but of course, that might have put tourists off. The best treatment is aluminium sulphate gel applied immediately to the injured area or failing that being available, vinegar. The box jellyfish has tentacles up to 3 metres long and each one has a stinging nematode every 5mm - so victims usually get a massive number of stings. An alluminium sulphate product called "Stingose" in a tube is often the first thing into the bag on a beach trip here in Oz, as we have all manner of less deadly but still painful jellyfish. I feel very sad for the little boy who lost his life to one of these nasty creatures - yet another avoidable death in LOS. I am pleased that they have (now) finally installed safety nets on Samui.

[ThaIrish Sean]

Stop eating tuna.

Tuna eat box jellyfish and we're over fishing tuna therefore the box jellyfish numbers are out of control

[l4ml4m]

killed by a jellyfish ! what a shame ! even worst than people who die because of a friendly virus !

 

[Espanol]

On 9/1/2021 at 9:35 AM, LivinLOS said:

Because Box jellys are a rising issue with warming waters.. They were not sighted a couple of decades back, very very rare a decade back, and hence its a rising problem. 

Sea turtles eat jellyfish.
Jellyfish are a growing problem due to the decrease in the number of turtles.

[kwilco]

There are quite a few misleading ideas on this thread

 

Livin LOS said that “Because Box jellys are a rising issue with warming waters.. They were not sighted a couple of decades back, very very rare a decade back, and hence its a rising problem”. 

This is not necessarily the case, there are probably several reasons…….

 

Aussiepeter  wrote that…….

“In the rainy season in northern Australia, these creatures are so common that nobody goes into the sea between November and March,” 

The traditional stinger season in the Aussie tropics is during the warmer months from November to May. It is now extended to July - the reasoning behind this is water temperatures thanks to climate change.

‘The best treatment is aluminium sulphate gel applied immediately to the injured area or failing that being available, vinegar ... An aluminium sulphate product called "Stingose" in a tube is often the first thing into the bag on a beach trip here in Oz,”

 

THis has not been demonstrated as effective first aid for Box Jelly stings - the problem is envenomation and vinegar is used not to kill the pain but prevent further envenomation. As the victim often has only minutes to live, it is very important to prevent this over pain killing. The venom causes rapid heart failure.

“As we have all manner of less deadly but still painful jellyfish. “ 

The Box Jelly comes in many species some are not even venomous but they are not true jellies and their venom is in a class of it’s own and not treated in the same way as other jellies..I believe there were tests back in around 2007 on the aluminium sulphate but it has subsequently never been recommended for box jellies.

 

There is no evidence strong enough to suggest that Box Jelly populations are rising - they have been recorded officially in Thailand since the 1990s but research has suggested they go back way further - Thailand waters are and have always been in Box Jelly habitat zones

 

It IS known that Box Jelly populations rise and fall quite substantially as part of their natural history

 

The increase in numbers of people stung is actually statistically negligible. Reported incidents could very likely be due to a combination of various reasons.

 

The first to consider is the exponential increase of people swimming in the sea - in particular with their skin exposed….

 

Other things to consider…….It is also possible that the weather or climate and wait for it - COVID may have an effect.

 

Weather - the Box jelly spawns in estuaries and like fresh water to do this…… where they spawn is not explained.They may spawn on rivers on the islands or on the mainland - either way, this could be affected by the amount of water entering the sea at any time. They tend to like gently shelving beaches and stay away in rougher weather.

 

Climate - In Ozthey have extended the Box Jelly season in Queensland from the end of May until July. It is said this is due to changes in water aperture put down to climate change.

 

COVID - For nearly 2 years now the human impact on the islands and seas around them has been greatly reduced. The quality of fresh water in rivers may be affected as well as pollution in the sea - this may have led to improved conditions for Box Jellies to breed.

 

One has to consider the possibility of a lack of predators. There might be a change in predators but this has not been shown to be the case, as the have so any predators - Jelly predators are in general widespread and some are quite common - Prominent among the predators are ocean sunfishes , sharks, tunas, green turtles, and molas, they appear not to suffer from ingesting the tentacles… there has been research into this but the conclusion was that unlike some other jellyfish it wasn’t proved.

 

Footnote - If the Irukandji  box jelly is about, those nets won’t stop it at all, it’s way smaller than that and extremely deadly.

As we can’t be sure where the Box Jellies are coming from, how can we be sure they aren’t already in the area netted off?

 

[gearbox]

On 9/1/2021 at 2:40 PM, Aussiepeter said:

In the rainy season in northern Australia, these creatures are so common that nobody goes into the sea between November and March, unless they are in a netted safe swimming area or wearing protective clothing. Warning signs everywhere. Only last year a very fit indigenous teenager died in north Queensland after being stung by a box jellyfish. Warning signs in multiple languages and safety nets should have been installed on Samui & other islands years ago after the first fatalities but of course, that might have put tourists off.

The box jellyfish seems to hang around relatively close to the mainland, where there is some fresh water coming in the mix. Between November-May they are common in Northern Australia near the mainland beaches, but not in the reef 15-20km+ from the mainland. At the top of the jellyfish season the snorkelling cruises from Cairns and other places are still operating in full swing.

Probably that's the reason Koh Tao is not in the stats, it is too far from the mainland and water is much clearer there. Same for Koh Lipe on the Andaman side.

 

https://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/info/reef-dangers/box-jellyfish/

 

 

Where and when are box jellyfish found in Australia?

They are found in the waters north of Bundaberg, Queensland, up around the coast of the Northern Territory and down to Exmouth in Western Australia. They tend to inhabit river mouths and shallow coastal waters and rarely inhabit the Great Barrier Reef islands such as Fitzroy Island, Green Island and Dunk Island . The jellyfish season runs from around November to May in Tropical North Queensland.

 

[kwilco]

52 minutes ago, gearbox said:

The box jellyfish seems to hang around relatively close to the mainland, where there is some fresh water coming in the mix. Between November-May they are common in Northern Australia near the mainland beaches, but not in the reef 15-20km+ from the mainland. At the top of the jellyfish season the snorkelling cruises from Cairns and other places are still operating in full swing.

Probably that's the reason Koh Tao is not in the stats, it is too far from the mainland and water is much clearer there. Same for Koh Lipe on the Andaman side.

 

https://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/info/reef-dangers/box-jellyfish/

 

 

Where and when are box jellyfish found in Australia?

They are found in the waters north of Bundaberg, Queensland, up around the coast of the Northern Territory and down to Exmouth in Western Australia. They tend to inhabit river mouths and shallow coastal waters and rarely inhabit the Great Barrier Reef islands such as Fitzroy Island, Green Island and Dunk Island . The jellyfish season runs from around November to May in Tropical North Queensland.

 

Irujandji are found as far south as Melbourne.

They spawn in fresh(ish?) water and presumably as very small medusa are flushed out into the sea by the flow. ...but they can swim, unlike other jellies.

Also until more research is done we can't  be sure of the natural history of local Thai box jellies....we can only assume that they havea similar life cycle to the Aussie ones... BTW the Qld season has been extended to July....citing climate change.

[kwilco]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:52 AM, trainman34014 said:

If these Jellyfish are so dangerous how come there are not nets installed every year at this time ?  Another case of 'Why should we worry about Tourists health and safety matters'.  All they are ever interested in is extracting money; never spending any !

Every time there is an  incident  then some people but out vinegar and nets which are gradually discarded or forgotten.

As we dont know for sure where the box jellies are coming from I can't see how effective these nets would be, quite apart from the ecological damage they do

[kwilco]

On 9/1/2021 at 8:35 AM, LivinLOS said:

They were not sighted a couple of decades back

Yes they were...they have always been around.

[LivinLOS]

18 hours ago, kwilco said:

Yes they were...they have always been around.

There were 3 recorded cases from 1995 to 2007.. Since then the pace of these has risen.. a further 12 in the same timeframe 2008 to 2015. All of the peak years have been in the 201X's as have all the deaths up to this one. 

While your technically right that 'they were not sighted' was too blanket a statement, they were not sighted with anything like the frequency.

[kwilco]

3 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

There were 3 recorded cases from 1995 to 2007.. Since then the pace of these has risen.. a further 12 in the same timeframe 2008 to 2015. All of the peak years have been in the 201X's as have all the deaths up to this one. 

While your technically right that 'they were not sighted' was too blanket a statement, they were not sighted with anything like the frequency.

Not sure what you think I'm saying.....the Marine Dept has 1500 samples.

Fishermen have been encountering them for decades. They just weren't identified or reported. There were enough though to start official reports in the 1990s.

There also reports from Malaysia just South of the Thai border.

Any "rise", as said, could well be due to the increase in numbers of people in the sea.

[terryofcrete]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:52 AM, trainman34014 said:

Another case of 'Why should we worry about Tourists health and safety matters'.

Because Thai people must be immune to the stings ... or very brave !..lol !

[LosLobo]

On 9/4/2021 at 6:06 PM, kwilco said:

Irujandji are found as far south as Melbourne.

Really? Could you post some supporting evidence?

[kwilco]

4 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Really? Could you post some supporting evidence?

 

4 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Really? Could you post some supporting evidence?

You know it always irks me when some says that.

What it really means is they dont believe you but they are not able to find out for themselves 

Well, if I get my info and so can you...either take it or leave it.

I shall  check my info and see if my memory serves me well.... but this is a chat forum and not a university paper.

If you disagree, put forward you own argument rather than snide requests for citations. 

I guess you're the kind of guy who googles in restaurants 

[kwilco]

6 hours ago, terryofcrete said:

Because Thai people must be immune to the stings ... or very brave !..lol !

ManyThai people swim fully clothed.

[LosLobo]

6 hours ago, kwilco said:

 

You know it always irks me when some says that.

What it really means is they dont believe you but they are not able to find out for themselves 

Well, if I get my info and so can you...either take it or leave it.

I shall  check my info and see if my memory serves me well.... but this is a chat forum and not a university paper.

If you disagree, put forward you own argument rather than snide requests for citations. 

I guess you're the kind of guy who googles in restaurants 

This forum allows respectful discussion and debate which I think is one of its strengths.

 

Maybe I can remind you of the forum rule "you will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members."

 

Why do you think my request was "snide" as there was no intention to be derogatory or mocking in an indirect way.

 

In these days of misinformation in social media it is quite reasonable to challenge a post.

 

I neither believe or disbelieve you. 

 

I spent some time on the internet trying to find information about your statement but I could not find any.

 

I posted to give you the right of reply.

 

If you do not wish to continue in this discussion that is fine but I will.

 

I suggest you respond with some supporting evidence or otherwise you may lose standing in your reputation.

 

[LivinLOS]

10 hours ago, kwilco said:

 

You know it always irks me when some says that.

What it really means is they dont believe you but they are not able to find out for themselves 

Well, if I get my info and so can you...either take it or leave it.

I shall  check my info and see if my memory serves me well.... but this is a chat forum and not a university paper.

If you disagree, put forward you own argument rather than snide requests for citations. 

I guess you're the kind of guy who googles in restaurants 

But when people make extraordinary claims the burden of proof is then on the claimant.. 

I have no idea if the claim is unusual but the more from the generally understood range it is the more its up to you to cite a reputable source to back up the claim.. 

[kwilco]

On 9/9/2021 at 3:41 AM, LosLobo said:

This forum allows respectful discussion and debate which I think is one of its strengths.

 

Maybe I can remind you of the forum rule "you will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members."

 

Why do you think my request was "snide" as there was no intention to be derogatory or mocking in an indirect way.

 

In these days of misinformation in social media it is quite reasonable to challenge a post.

 

I neither believe or disbelieve you. 

 

I spent some time on the internet trying to find information about your statement but I could not find any.

 

I posted to give you the right of reply.

 

If you do not wish to continue in this discussion that is fine but I will.

 

I suggest you respond with some supporting evidence or otherwise you may lose standing in your reputation.

 

You didnt challenge my post, you haven't challenged my post....you haven't presented a counter-argument you just have never heard it before so you dont believe it.

 

So please respect my comments as a fellow member.

 

PS Irukandji syndrome has even been noted off North Wales.

[kwilco]

On 9/9/2021 at 7:43 AM, LivinLOS said:

But when people make extraordinary claims the burden of proof is then on the claimant.. 

I have no idea if the claim is unusual but the more from the generally understood range it is the more its up to you to cite a reputable source to back up the claim.. 

Not an extraordinary claim..

What is extraordinary is people dont understand that there are 50 or more species of box jelly    many species are not just in the tropics.

 

Trying to assert there is a definite "season" is not based on the evidence so that is an extraordinary claim.

 

There is a huge amount of people putting g forward this idea without any scientific evidence...so why not challenge them for citations.... because that myth has been repeated so often people think its fact.

 

So,  if you see something about box jellies.... educated yourself before putting false info up.

 

 

[kwilco]

On 9/5/2021 at 4:28 AM, LivinLOS said:

There were 3 recorded cases from 1995 to 2007.. Since then the pace of these has risen.. a further 12 in the same timeframe 2008 to 2015. All of the peak years have been in the 201X's as have all the deaths up to this one. 

While your technically right that 'they were not sighted' was too blanket a statement, they were not sighted with anything like the frequency.

You're  looking at the evidence incorrectly.

Box Jellies have been around for millions of years.

The habitat around Thailand and the region to the South is good for Box Jelliy species we know of.

For example, the first scientific ID of a box jelly in Oz was 1955, but because of this they can now confidently say the first definite BJ incident was in the 1890s.

This is similar in Thailand. No records were compiled until 1997, but researching back has shown they were known to fishermen long, long before this.

 

Attributing an increase in incidents to an invasion or even just a population rise is not necessarily supported by the evidence of just recorded deaths.

It is far more likely that the increase of swimmers due to tourism has increased the likelihood of encounters. Especially as both box jellies and swimmers like similar waters.

Until recently swimming in the sea has gone against every grain in Thai culture and those who did venture into the sea were usually fully clothed.

As a pair of heavy denier tights are sufficient to protect against BJ stings  they were far less likely to be seriously injured.

It is also suspected that many diagnoses for BJ incidents were improperly diagnosed and some even covered up..

 

"In Thailand, there have been 15 serious cases recorded between 1997 and 2015 (the majority attributed to (Chironex fleckeri), though many cases of smaller sting incidents have gone unreported (officially), and indeed many stings are wrongly not attributed to the box jellyfish."  Here's a secondary source ...   https://www.thethailandlife.com/box-jellyfish-thailand

[kwilco]

On 9/5/2021 at 4:28 AM, LivinLOS said:

There were 3 recorded cases from 1995 to 2007.. Since then the pace of these has risen.. a further 12 in the same timeframe 2008 to 2015. All of the peak years have been in the 201X's as have all the deaths up to this one. 

While your technically right that 'they were not sighted' was too blanket a statement, they were not sighted with anything like the frequency.

You're  looking at the evidence incorrectly.

Box Jellies have been around for millions of years.

The habitat around Thailand and the region to the South is good for Box Jelliy species we know of.

The first scientific ID of a box jelly in Oz was 1955, but because of this they can now confidently say the firstfmdefinite BJ incident was in the 1890s.

This is similar in Thailand. No records were royal until 1997, but researching back gas shown they were know to fishermen long, long before this.

 

Attributing an I crease in I cidents to an I evasion or even population rise is not necessarily supported by the evidence of deaths.

It is far more likely that the increase if swimmers due to tourism has increased the likelihood of encounters. Especially as both box jellies and swimmers like similar waters.

Until recently swimming in the sea has gone against every grain in Thai culture and those who did venture into the sea were usually fully clothed.

As a pair of heavy denier tights are sufficient to protect against BJ stings  they were far less likely to be seriously injured.

It is also suspected that many diagnoses for BJ incidents were improperly diagnosed and some even covered up..

[LosLobo]

On 9/9/2021 at 4:13 PM, LivinLOS said:

But when people make extraordinary claims the burden of proof is then on the claimant.. 

I have no idea if the claim is unusual but the more from the generally understood range it is the more its up to you to cite a reputable source to back up the claim.. 

Brilliant! You verbalised my very thoughts on this matter and furthermore :

 

Burden of Proof as a Philosophical Concept.

 

Holder of the burden

 

"When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim especially when it challenges a perceived status quo."

 

This is also stated in Hitchens's razor "what may be asserted without evidence, may be dismissed without evidence" and Sagan's standard "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".

 

Shifting the burden of proof

 

"One way in which one would attempt to shift the burden of proof is by committing a logical fallacy known as the argument from ignorance. 

 

It occurs when either a proposition is assumed to be true because it has not yet been proven false...."

 

Burden of proof (philosophy) - Wikipedia