(Newser)
– Signs generally posted in Australia’s coastal communities warn swimmers not to dive during “stinger season”, but these warnings were not enough to save a 17-year-old boy who died on Monday, a week after a rare attack of an extremely poisonous jellyfish in Queensland. Authorities say the teenager was swimming on a beach in Bamaga, Cape York, on February 22 when he was stung by a jellyfish box, a box-shaped sea creature with long barbed tentacles filled with poison, according to with the BBC, who notes that the sting of this jellyfish can lead to paralysis and cardiac arrest of the victim and be fatal. 9News identifies the teenager as Tommy Johnson, who, police said, died on Monday at Townsville Hospital after being removed from the life support device about a week after the incident.
It was the country’s first known death by a jellyfish since 2006. “Unfortunately, that [previous] the fatality also occurred in Bamaga, “a marine biologist told ABC Australia. The local health officer, Dr. Marlow Coates, said that there have been recent sightings of” both box jellyfish and jellyfish that cause Irukandji syndrome in our waters “, by 9News, who observes that anyone who is bitten by one of these creatures should expect immediate and intense pain. The bite should be treated with vinegar, not fresh or salt water, which can make things worse. you shouldn’t try to pull the tentacles off or rub the spot or you can avoid this type of injury altogether by following Coates’s warning: “If you don’t have protective clothing and you know that there may be stingers or jellyfish in the water, just Do not enter. “(Read more stories about jellyfish.)