Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120

Two giant jellyfish captured off the Queensland coast would have been capable of killing 120 people, according to an expert.

 

The lethal pair, each measuring 30cm in bell diameter, were discovered by lifeguards alive after washing ashore on Balgal Beach, 60km north of Townsville on Wednesday.

 

Any jellyfish found on the shore are normally transported to James Cook University for research purposes.

 

However, responding lifeguards did not have buckets large enough to carry the creatures.

 

Instead, they buried them in the sand to quickly die and decompose to protect beachgoers and retrieved them later.

Lifeguard supervisor Russell Blanchard said they were the largest caught this season.

 

"I wouldn't say it's a record, but it's about as big as they can get," he said.

 

CSIRO marine stinger expert Lisa Gershwin said the stingers' sheer girth suggested that they had survived from last summer.

 

"We do sometimes see that size this early in the season, but they're probably last season's animals," she said, adding each of the marine stingers had the potential to kill 60 people, based on the number and length of each tentacle.

 

Dr Gershwin said each jellyfish could have as many as 60 tentacles.

 

"It takes 3-5m to kill an adult human in as little as two minutes, and as little as 1.2m of tentacles to kill a child in as little as two minutes," she said.

 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/01/24/14/15/lethal-jellyfish-could-have-killed-120

 

 

 

Darn good sock
Message 1 of 6
Latest reply
5 REPLIES 5

Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120

 

wot think you, of the mass port stephens oyster bed deads, aye, sock

 

Mass oyster deaths leave Port Stephens industry and scientists shell-shocked

Updated Fri 24 Jan 2014, 11:55am AEDT

Related Story: No specific cause for oyster deaths
 Oyster farmers in the NSW Hunter region's Port Stephens estuary are in limbo after a mystery kill wiped out millions of their oyster crop.

Several hatcheries of Pacific oysters have been hit and some have perished altogether.

Geoff Diemar has worked in the industry for more than six decades.

He has lost about 10 million oysters, including all of next year's crop.

"This is the first time I've ever seen any catastrophic event like this with Pacific oysters," Mr Diemar said.

"It's very devastating and humiliating because the biggest problem is we can't find out what is causing these mortalities in the oysters.

"We don't know how to plan, we don't know how to go forward."

Seafood grown in the area has been declared safe to eat but the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has been unable to find a cause, despite carrying out more than 1,200 tests.

Aquaculture division manager Ian Lyall says they have been able to rule out Pacific oyster mortality syndrome, which has devastated hatcheries in the Georges River and Hawkesbury River over recent years.

"We can't get a lead on some action that may be causing this with Pacific oysters," Mr Lyall said.

"We are continuing with our investigation and working with other agencies and as a last resort we're looking at what's called a transmission trial to see if there is a transmissible disease that can be detected.

"That could take a couple of months for us to complete that work and that could be the last throw looking at what is causing these events in Port Stephens."

The mystery deepens because the native Sydney rock oyster, which grows nearby, has not been affected.

That species is more disease resistant and the NSW Government has long promoted it to farmers as a better choice than the introduced Pacific variety.

Mark Salm from the NSW Farmers' Association says the mortalities could act as a catalyst for growers to move away from the Pacific oyster altogether.

"It wouldn't be to their detriment," Mr Salm said.

"The Sydney rock oyster is an outstanding oyster with a wonderful shelf life to work with on your farm, out of the water and management of the oyster is a lot easier."

He has also hinted at possible financial assistance for affected farmers.

"If they can't connect it to any sickness of other sorts caused by some organism, it could come down to a natural disaster," he said.

Mr Lyall says the department is working to help farmers.

"Contract farmers while they have a downturn to give them employment while they recover and that would be removing derelict lease infrastructure from the past," he said.

There are also hardships exemptions from paying certain fees that farmers can apply for.

Farmers are set to meet in the coming weeks to map out a way forward.

Message 2 of 6
Latest reply

Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120


@not_an_eloi wrote:

 

wot think you, of the mass port stephens oyster bed deads, aye, sock

 

Mass oyster deaths leave Port Stephens industry and scientists shell-shocked

Updated Fri 24 Jan 2014, 11:55am AEDT

Related Story: No specific cause for oyster deaths
 Oyster farmers in the NSW Hunter region's Port Stephens estuary are in limbo after a mystery kill wiped out millions of their oyster crop.

Several hatcheries of Pacific oysters have been hit and some have perished altogether.

Geoff Diemar has worked in the industry for more than six decades.

He has lost about 10 million oysters, including all of next year's crop.

"This is the first time I've ever seen any catastrophic event like this with Pacific oysters," Mr Diemar said.

"It's very devastating and humiliating because the biggest problem is we can't find out what is causing these mortalities in the oysters.

"We don't know how to plan, we don't know how to go forward."

Seafood grown in the area has been declared safe to eat but the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has been unable to find a cause, despite carrying out more than 1,200 tests.

Aquaculture division manager Ian Lyall says they have been able to rule out Pacific oyster mortality syndrome, which has devastated hatcheries in the Georges River and Hawkesbury River over recent years.

"We can't get a lead on some action that may be causing this with Pacific oysters," Mr Lyall said.

"We are continuing with our investigation and working with other agencies and as a last resort we're looking at what's called a transmission trial to see if there is a transmissible disease that can be detected.

"That could take a couple of months for us to complete that work and that could be the last throw looking at what is causing these events in Port Stephens."

The mystery deepens because the native Sydney rock oyster, which grows nearby, has not been affected.

That species is more disease resistant and the NSW Government has long promoted it to farmers as a better choice than the introduced Pacific variety.

Mark Salm from the NSW Farmers' Association says the mortalities could act as a catalyst for growers to move away from the Pacific oyster altogether.

"It wouldn't be to their detriment," Mr Salm said.

"The Sydney rock oyster is an outstanding oyster with a wonderful shelf life to work with on your farm, out of the water and management of the oyster is a lot easier."

He has also hinted at possible financial assistance for affected farmers.

"If they can't connect it to any sickness of other sorts caused by some organism, it could come down to a natural disaster," he said.

Mr Lyall says the department is working to help farmers.

"Contract farmers while they have a downturn to give them employment while they recover and that would be removing derelict lease infrastructure from the past," he said.

There are also hardships exemptions from paying certain fees that farmers can apply for.

Farmers are set to meet in the coming weeks to map out a way forward.


An original.jpg

Darn good sock
Message 3 of 6
Latest reply

Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120

that be true.  sock.

 

how you be

 

 

Message 4 of 6
Latest reply

Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120

 

 

uh, look, i found a "h" for me keyboard

 

bloody 'ell

Message 5 of 6
Latest reply

Lethal Jellyfish Could Have Killed 120


@not_an_eloi wrote:

that be true.  sock.

 

how you be

 

 


be like a little fish in a big pond, mate 😞

Darn good sock
Message 6 of 6
Latest reply