Jellyfish At Kata Beach

[thaiswimmer]

JUST A HEADS-UP.....SAW 2 6" diameter jellys today 75m offshore on the way to the reef..dont know what kind.....aloha

[jackdawson]

note to self; continue not to go to kata, phuket

[steelepulse]

There's been a lot of the non stinging types of jelly fish in kata on and off the last month, along with those strange seed pods.

[petercallen]

The really dangerous jellyfish is the box jellyfish witch is transparent and very hard to see in the water.

They are a problem in the north of Australia in the dry season when they come close to the shore when the seas are calm,

they also like tidal areas with mangroves.

There was a report in a local paper last year of finding them here and sending them to Australia to be identified.

[logbags]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks. At first I thought I had been hit by lightning as the pain was instant and like nothing I had ever experienced. I ran screaming from the water in absolute agony. I was only 23 and fit and strong but I went into shock and felt like I was dying. I was lying on the beach just crying in pain.

The Thais realised what had happened and made some herbal mixture from a plant that grows on the beach, I downed a bottle of mekhong but the pain was just getting worse and worse. After seeming hours of agony the pain started to reside with the herbal mixture but then it started to burn like a branding iron, my back looked like it had been flogged with the cat of nine tails with large red welts where the tentacles had touched the body.

They applied cold cucumber to try to make the burning stop, then after the burning it became itchy and there were big scars where the barbs had sunk into the skin. It took me years before I was able to go back to the ocean to swim and I was always looking out for them after that. At my age now the same thing would kill me stone dead no doubt. It was only my youth and fitness that saved me.

If a child or older person got stung like I did I think the shock would kill them, I was lucky to even drag myself out of the water and remain conscious. I've seen Thai people just stung on the foot or ankle crying in agony so these things are very dangerous.

Edited March 24, 2010 by logbags

[ozymandious]

I should take my camera with me on my next swim. Just did Andaman White Sand beach to the north tip of Ni Torn today and saw 4 different species of Jellies today. Pink, the classic white basket ball size one i see all the time, a white one (tennis ball size) with a meter long tail, and several clear slightly domed ones with multiple clear tails off the body.

[LivinLOS]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks.

That doesnt sound anything like a box jellyfish.

[Macx]

I took my cousin to Karon two years ago around this time. She got stung from some sort of jellyfish that left long tentacle-like scars on her forearm and hand. The scars remain, scarlet, very ugly and shows no sign of fading.

[stuandchris]

There are Jellyfish in Nai Harn as well at the moment.

Seems to be a growing problem

[petercallen]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks.

That doesnt sound anything like a box jellyfish.

The symptoms are box jellyfish and people do die of shock sometimes and the stings leave scares.

They have stinging tentacles about 4 meters long from memory.

[logbags]

That doesnt sound anything like a box jellyfish.

I'll add marine biology to your long list of fields of expertise.

[logbags]

The following is from the Phuket Gazzette in 2008

The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has issued an official warning following the collection of almost 40 box jellyfish in a trap in shallow waters, off Ao Nambor, on Phuket’s east coast.

Some 38 of the jellyfish, which favor shallow brackish water, were recovered from a fish trap in a mangrove area on July 30. Eighteen more were found in the same area over a two-day collection period starting on October 20.

The search for the deadly jellyfish followed the reported death of a Swedish tourist off Koh Lanta, where another person was reported stung on April 3 this year.

A two-hour search using a seine off Koh Lanta on August 22 recovered 13 specimens, six of the multi-tentacled Chirodropidae family and seven of the smaller, single-tentacled Carybdeidae family.

The PMBC began their search for the jellyfish in Phuket in early July, working jointly with members of the Disease Control Department’s Epidemiology Office.

The researchers have also questioned staff at four hospitals along the Andaman Coast to learn the incidence and type of jellyfish stings that have been reported there.

Somchai Bussarawit, Chief of Reference Collection at the PMBC’s Phuket Aquarium, is working with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Australia to identify the collected specimens.

Of seven specimens collected at Ao Nambor that have already been sent to the institute, one has been confirmed as a Chirosoides buitendijkl, one of the seven members of the Chirodropidae family, he said.

The PMBC is preparing to send six more specimens which are thought possibly to be of the Carybdeidae family, he said.

The PMBC researcher, who expressed surprise at the discovery of these box jellies in local waters, said searches will now be conducted monthly.

Noting that he is not an expert in jellyfish, he said it was still unsure what threat the collected species found at Ao Nambor posed to people.

Although there have been no reports of box jellyfish stings in Phuket waters, the PMBC has issued a warning advising the public on what measures to take if they are stung.

Although not all box jellyfish are dangerous to humans, stings from the most venomous varieties can cause death within four minutes if the venom reaches the heart and causes cardiac arrest.

Any person who has suffered a possible box jellyfish sting should get out of the water as soon as possible, have his or her pulse rate monitored, and undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of heart failure.

The site of a sting should immediately be treated with vinegar to stop further injection of the toxin, the PMBC advises.

Do not rub or scratch the site of the sting or apply fresh water or alcohol to it, the PMBC advises.

Mr Somchai reiterated that there have been no box jellyfish sitings on west coast beaches, where the seawater is generally too saline an environment for box jellies.

However, he advises seaside resorts in all parts of the island to keep bottles of vinegar as a standard part of their first aid kits as it is effective in treating stings from other kinds of less venomous jellyfish.

[kirmizi]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks.

Just to clarify, did this happen here in Phuket?

[Peterocket]

I watched a documentary the other day that showed a biologist trying to collect the box jellyfish in Australia for research. The documentary took a strange turn when one of the tentacles touched her wrist that then resulted in her being in a coma for 2 weeks.

[logbags]

Patong Beach. I have no idea of what type of jellyfish it was, I didn't even see it but felt something on the back of my head and neck as I dived under a wave and boom it was like being hit by a massive electric charge. I had scars on my leg, back and neck where the barbs or whatever they were struck, I had trouble for months and months with itching there.

Like I said, I have no doubt it would kill me now if I was struck by that sort of pain. I've been in more than my share of incidents and accidents but pain wise this was 100 times worse than anything I'd ever experienced. It is somewhat rare to see them these days compared to then. They used to come in with the monsoon winds when they turned onshore.

I remember seeing this Thai girl get stung on the ankle only and she was screaming and crying in agony too. I didn't even realise what had happened to me until I saw the red welts and whip like marks on my back. I was screaming in agony and I mean really screaming. So if they are even similar just watch out. Trust me you don't wanna find out the hard way.

[MrMondayNight]

JellyFish , Danger , Thailand ?

I dont think so .

This is Thailand nothing bad ever happens to Farangs here

[LivinLOS]

The symptoms are box jellyfish and people do die of shock sometimes and the stings leave scares.

They have stinging tentacles about 4 meters long from memory.

I was under the impression that box jellyfish tended to be smaller and have short tentacles, not 4m long type ones ??

[LivinLOS]

Sorry, it seems when they are hunting they do have long tentacles.

When the jellyfish are swimming the tentacles contract so they are about 15 cm long and about 5 mm in diameter; when they are hunting, the tentacles are thinner and extend to about three meters long

I was under the wrong impression that they were always short tentacled.

[LeungKen]

I just Googled Box Jellyfish.

Box jellies, also called sea wasps and marine stingers, live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are pale blue and transparent in color and get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell. Up to 15 tentacles grow from each corner of the bell and can reach 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Each tentacle has about 5,000 stinging cells, which are triggered not by touch but by the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its prey.

More here :-

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/anim.../box-jellyfish/

[petercallen]

The symptoms are box jellyfish and people do die of shock sometimes and the stings leave scares.

They have stinging tentacles about 4 meters long from memory.

I was under the impression that box jellyfish tended to be smaller and have short tentacles, not 4m long type ones ??

Well i suggest you check the internet they say the tentacles grow to 3 meters and they can grow to a large size,

i think the national geographic site has the best information.

[LivinLOS]

Yes I agree.. was wrong..

I thought box jellies were much smaller than they seem to be.. Had seen pics of them (in a bucket) and video about them which showed them to be small sized jellyfish and thought thats how they always / usually were.

[ThaiEye]

On Koh Mak now, the local authorities have now put up warning signs on possible box jellyfish in the area and First Aid kits are also available at the signs. All the local staff are now being trained on treating a box jellyfish sting. Let's see if this happens on Lanta or Phuket.

[ScubaBuddha]

Yes I agree.. was wrong..

I thought box jellies were much smaller than they seem to be.. Had seen pics of them (in a bucket) and video about them which showed them to be small sized jellyfish and thought thats how they always / usually were.

Yeah I may have been the one to give you that impression when we had the thread going on them a while back. That seemed to be the information I was getting too. I think they can be big or small.

I've done a lot of snorkling and diving on Kata Beach over the years and see jellies there often. In fact saw some earlier this week which I believed to be non stinging. Very often you feel the stings while diving or swimming from small comb jellies or bits of dead or dying jellys, but they are managable and don't last long. I have never seen a Boxjelly on Kata beach. Not anywhere in Thailand for that matter, and I have about 600 dives here.

My suggestion is don't worry too much about it unless we get an official warning. When I go in the water, if I have goggles or a mask, I do try to look around occasionally just in case. If I am surfing I try to do the same from above water. There has been enough concern expressed about government withholding information that could harm tourism that it is not likely officials will risk the backlash if there is suddenly a lot of box jellies on our western beaches.

I filmed these passing under Sarasin Bridge last October. They were basketball size.

Edited March 26, 2010 by ScubaBuddha

[WarpSpeed]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks.

That doesnt sound anything like a box jellyfish.

Au contrere it sounds very much like a box jelly fish. The thing is it was rare until recently to have Box jellies here and even more so on the Andaman side as they prefer brackish water (fresh water diluted salt water like is found on the gulf side) and the salinity in the Andaman is too high as a rule, but as noted that has changed recently for some strange reason..

[thaiswimmer]

These things are no joke, in 1985 in the monsoon I dived under a wave and came up with one on my head, the tentacles were right across my neck and down my back to just under my arse cheeks.

That doesnt sound anything like a box jellyfish.

Au contrere it sounds very much like a box jelly fish. The thing is it was rare until recently to have Box jellies here and even more so on the Andaman side as they prefer brackish water (fresh water diluted salt water like is found on the gulf side) and the salinity in the Andaman is too high as a rule, but as noted that has changed recently for some strange reason..

the 2 that i saw at kata last week had no visible tentacles extending from the body and adjusting for the 20% increase in size due to seeing them with a mask on and dam_n near swimming right into them (i was only maybe 2" from contact) i'm going with about 5" in diameter

[shawndoc]

Box jellies come in all different sizes and types. Just like with scorpions, its the smaller ones that are the most poisonous.