I knew of the box jellyfish, but not the Irukandji. Fascinating.

Note the "Jaws" vibe with business owners harassing researchers, not wanting the info to get out.

Aussies laugh at the box jelly
it's fk all. It just hurts

irukandji is scary AF and if you cop one, you are many hours from help.

I wonder why Australian animals are so weaponised ?. Particularly on land. 48hr of hell. Morphine does not work. Wonder if the pain pathway (in the brain) is psychological rather than physical ?, since there is a fear perception. Good share colas.

Hossegor is not so bad after all

Yeah, I watched a mini documentary on these little bastards a few years ago. Scary AF.
I've had a Portuguese man-o-war (blue bottle) wrapped around my arm and that left a set of neat scars for about a decade. I've also been hit by a box jelly fish travelling in the white wash on my thigh, just below my groin (luckily). I've been stung many times by both of these in South Africa, but those two encounters are the ones etched forever in memory and left me in major pain. I see jelly fish in England too, but they don't seem to have a sting?? I've been out surrounded by thousands of them one day last year and I did not get stung.

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flowmaster said..
Hossegor is not so bad after all

Yes, that why I love it so much here, even though it is so fickle:
No rocks, urchins, corals, stinging jellyfishes, aggressive sharks, pollution...

My wife and I were RANs in the Torres Straits for a couple of years, the island group between Oz and PNG, and trained to evac Irukjandi asap to Cairns and hope for survival. This critter was scarier than the multitude of crocs and noahs there.
BTW it was where I taught myself to sup-go figure what a bloke will do with no surf!