(Newser)
– Signs usually displayed around Australia’s coastal communities warn swimmers not to dive during the ‘stinger season’, but these warnings were not enough to save a 17-year-old boy who died a week on Monday after a rare attack by 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, a box-shaped sea creature with long, barbed tentacles filled with venom, according to the BBC. this jellyfish can lead to paralysis and cardiac arrest in the victim and can prove fatal. 9News identifies the teenager as Tommy Johnson, who police say died at Townsville Hospital on Monday after being pronounced dead about a week after the incident.
It was the nation’s first known death from a box jellyfish in 2006. “Unfortunately, this [previous] The fatality also occurred in Bamaga, “a marine biologist told ABC Australia. Local health official Dr Marlow Coates said there had been recent observations of” both box jellyfish and jellyfish causing Irukandji syndrome in our waters “, according to 9News, which notes that someone who is stung by one of these creatures should expect immediate, intense pain. The sting should be treated with vinegar – not fresh or salt water, which can make things You should also not try to remove the tentacles or rub the place, or you could avoid this type of injury altogether, given Coates’ warning: “If you don’t have a protective suit and you know it would there could be fire extinguishers or jellyfish in the water, just don’t go in. “(Read more jellyfish stories.)