Box jellyfish attack in Haadrin this afternoon

[delgarcon]

I don't know the full details, but apparently a child was swimming in Haadrin and was badly injured by the jellyfish, so much so that a helicopter was brought to Koh Phangan police HQ to airlift the child and medical personnel to the appropriate hospital. Fingers crossed that the child survives.

[Mac Mickmanus]

Hope the kid is OK .

There were a few deaths from box jelly fish stings a few years ago in that area ????

[Sparktrader]

Box Jellyfish are common in tropics. 

[simon43]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

As always, you completely ignored the point of the topic and chosen to argue irrelevant semantics...

 

 

In this case, I think his comments were justified.  People will fear swimming in the sea, in case a box jellyfish makes a beeline for them....  I actually was stung by a box jellyfish in Thai waters about 15 years ago, and I had the red welts/scars on my leg for 2 years.  It is very difficult to see the tentacles of any jellyfish that's in the water. 

 

I sincerely hope the boy recovers.

[delgarcon]

The purpose of my thread was mainly to warn party goers of the danger of  swimming in the sea at the moment.  So the jelly fish didn't attack the child, it just stuck its tentacles to him and injected its poison! Hope you enjoyed Arsenal yesterday, I did????

[phetphet]

Apparently Box jellyfish can swim, as opposed to just drifting with the currents. And swim quite fast by all accounts. Up to 4mph. which is faster than the average swimmer. And they have eyes.

So while they might not attack, they might be attracted to movement.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, delgarcon said:

The purpose of my thread was mainly to warn party goers of the danger of  swimming in the sea at the moment.  So the jelly fish didn't attack the child, it just stuck its tentacles to him and injected its poison! Hope you enjoyed Arsenal yesterday, I did????

Agreed - its good info for anyone going to the beach during this season... 

 

 

... You’ll also duly be informed that there are 12 Liverpool’s and our favourite forum semanticist is possibly from Novo Sotia which would explain his social awkwardness on this forum !

[gearbox]

This issue was discussed last year when one kid died...

 

 

Statistically to avoid bad stings Haad Rin and Chaweng should be avoided mid July to early December. That's for very risk averse people, as the occurrence of stings is much lower than Australia for example. I personally swim in Chaweng all year round. The chance of dying of jellyfish sting is far lower than getting chlorine poisoning in these filthy swimming pools.

 

If swimming one can use long sleeve rashie and long leg gym compression pants, the less exposed area the higher chance of surviving.

[delgarcon]

Another one today in Haadrin! Not serious this time, but a woman got a nasty sting nonetheless.

[kwilco]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:22 PM, Mac Mickmanus said:

Hope the kid is OK .

There were a few deaths from box jelly fish stings a few years ago in that area ????

the last one was about the same time last year.

[kwilco]

On 10/10/2022 at 12:48 PM, delgarcon said:

Another one today in Haadrin! Not serious this time, but a woman got a nasty sting nonetheless.

It's important to know the species

[kwilco]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:08 AM, gearbox said:

Haad Rin and Chaweng should be avoided mid July to early December.

This is a potentially misleading statement.

Unlike Australia there has only been limited research on Box Jellies in Thailand and there natural history hasn't been mapped.

As yet there is no evidence of a season - the numbers are way too low to identify a season statistically with confidence.

In Australia the season is identified but this is connected with the source - e populations rise during wet periods and spawn in estuaries where they then swim down the coast.

 

in Thailand as yet no-one has identified the source of the local box Jellies or a season. 

Te chances of being actually stung by a box jelly is relatively low but the STAKES are very high in that they are often fatal.

 

trying to say they only exist at certain times is worrying as it may encourage people to swim without considering the dangers or taking  precautions

 

[Photoguy21]

Very dramatic headline but usually jellyfish are not known for their aggressive nature.

[metisdead]

A pedantic troll post has been removed as well as the bickering session that followed. 

[khunPer]

We have a previous thread about Box Jelly Fish here...