bluering bite

[robersl]

Hi all just a note heard on the radio today young fella got hit by a bluering octopuss at margate on the weekend young fella is now out of hospital but was not well for a while i think this is a timely warning i grew up down that way and quite often see them in the rock pools when i am digging for worms the rings do not go blue intil they get agro so don;t let your kids play with them or in the rock pools have also seen countless stonefish as well

shane

[DazSamFishing]

Great information, and vitally important as well...

When I was 6, I had scooped a small octopus in my landing net and was about to handle it... Luckily there was an elderly bloke looking over me and he knocked the net out of my hand before I could grab it... The small octopus turned out to be a blue ring! And its rings were thorbbing with the ultraviolet blue colour!

Blue ringed octopus are very capably of killing plenty of people... That young lad was extremely lucky, and I hope that people are aware of many of Australia's dangerous marine creatures!

Daz

[gilbo]

Yes saw that story, the boy is very lucky.

[_Dan_]

Hi All,

He is the son of a mate of mine, i spoke to the father this morning and he is doing very well.

He actually picked it up and went up to show his mum, then he put it back in the water and was sick after about 10 minutes..

The doc reckons they cant kill you? He said they make you terribly sick for about 12 hours?

Anyway they have spoken to the mayor of Redcliffe and they are going to be erecting warning signs in the near future.

Cheers

Dan

[rick_k]

they stop you breathing, however you remain aware. Well, until the oxygen runs out.

Best hope someone can provide effective life support for a few hours.

Most people who have been bitten have been handling them to show them to other people.

Had one in a fishtank for a few months. Very quick get onto a live prawn and kill it.

[Kendall249]

Some of the most toxic substances come from marine/aquatic organisms. Some of these substances (such as some of the saxitoxins) make cyanide and strychnine look like sherbert (sort of).

That young fellow is lucky.

[gilbo]

Hey _Dan_ - used to read a lot about them and they can kill can you, and do have the potency to kill an adult. Problem with them is that a lot of the time you dont feel the bite so with children in particular unless you knew they were playing with it, or they were able to tell you you might not know what bit them.

The good thing (from my understanding anyway) is that the toxin doesn't actually do any damage to muscles or any other part of the body and if the person can be keep alive (CPR) until the venom naturaly works its way out of the system then there will be no lasting effects from the bite.

Really glad to hear he is doing ok.

[Canoedle]

Meh, breathing is over rated anyway. :P

Glad the little bloke is ok. ;)