Tiny
creatures prefer calm, warm waters – with risk of stings increasing after
rainfall
Australian
Associated Press
Thu 27
Dec 2018 23.40 GMT
Irukandji
jellyfish may be elusive during far north Queensland’s big wet but they’re set
to come back in big numbers when the sun comes out.
After
they forced the closure of two northern Queensland beaches
last weekend, including Ellis Beach near Cairns when a teenage girl was
admitted to hospital with stings to her upper body, no irukandji have been
spotted in swimming areas since.
One of
the world’s deadliest creatures, the tiny box jellyfish prefer calm, warm
waters and tend to stay away during heavy rainfall, with some far north areas
receiving up to 200mm since Boxing Day.
But the
risk of irukandji stings will increase once the rain stops, according to a
James Cook university toxicologist, Prof Jamie Seymour. “All this rain, it’ll
fire all jellyfish up,” he said.
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