Box Jelly Fish

[Kauai Kid]

Watched a National Geographic Show on jelly fish. Please don't go out swimming or wading at night--that is when the box jelly fish comes close to shore, they seem to be especially heavy the week after a full moon.

One sting and you'll definitely be in the hospital if you are lucky and multiple strings you'll probably be in the mortuary.

They have tiny harpoons that penetrate the skin and go right for the red blood cells. Something in their venom makes the cells swell up and explode.

Remember, the problem only seems to occur at night.

According to National Geographic the jelly fish population explosion is happening around the world. Some jellyfish in Japan are 300# and 9 feet in diameter!

There is another much smaller jelly fish that is so small it is difficult to see and only has four tentacles. It is much more deadly than the box jelly fish. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name.

The resort pool is sounding more appealing all the time.

Sterling

 

[slgagnon]

Anyone planning to snorkel Hawaii should take note of this.

Hanauma Bay was closed recently because of stings. http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7444

 

[Judy999]

If we are scheduled right around 10 days after full moon to be in Hawaii next June 2009 - does that mean that we should try not to swim at the beaches during the entire vacation?

That would ruin out trip.

Thx

Judy

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Me too, June 2009 and I don't know when the full moon is. I can stay out of the water at night, just hope it's not a big problem in daylight, too.
Liz

 

[Judy999]

Full Moon Jun 09

Full Moon for Jun 2009 is the 7th.

http://www.moonphases.info/full_moon_calendar_dates.html


Bad News !!

Judy

 

[Kauai Kid]

Remember that the problem only occurs at night when the box jelly fish go to shallow waters to feed. There was no mention in the show about a problem during the day.

If you google national geographic.com and then search within their web site there are many articles and much information that is available.

Sterling
:whoopie:

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

June 7th, our first day in Maui, followed by a week yet booked at Paniolo through Shell. Glad it's just at night!
Liz

 

[Sandy VDH]

There is another much smaller jelly fish that is so small it is difficult to see and only has four tentacles. It is much more deadly than the box jelly fish. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name.

Sterling

Irukandji

Only found in Northern Austrailia however, October to early May. Very tiny and can be very deadly to humans.

 

[laxmom]

OK, I am confused, which doesn't take much but.....if it only happens at night and they closed Hanauma Bay because of Box Jellyfish stings......I didn't think you could snorkel Hanauma at night. Am I missing something? Didn't the article say they closed the beach at 10:30 am?

 

[LisaRex]

From the linked newspaper report: "Box jellyfish come close to shore about 10 days after a full moon to spawn. Beaches that are most commonly affected are Waikiki, Ala Moana, Hanauma Bay and sometimes at Makaha."

 

[MOXJO7282]

Its 3:25PM EST and DiscoverHD is having a special on the Box Jellyfish. Focusing on Australia. Scary/facsinating. 100x more deadly venom than cobra.

Regards.
Joe

 

[Kauai Kid]

From the linked newspaper report: "Box jellyfish come close to shore about 10 days after a full moon to spawn. Beaches that are most commonly affected are Waikiki, Ala Moana, Hanauma Bay and sometimes at Makaha."

The NGS special showed a PhD and her students at 3am in front of the Royal Hawaiian collecting Box Jelly Fish for venom research. Those are some dedicated students, eh?

 

[slgagnon]

Hanauma Bay Hours

"For our summer session, Hanauma Bay is open daily from 6:00a.m. until 7:00p.m. except on Tuesdays. We are closed all day on Tuesdays. On the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, Hanauma Bay remains open until 10:00p.m.
For our winter session, Hanauma Bay is open daily from 6:00a.m. until 6:00p.m. except on Tuesdays. We are closed all day on Tuesdays. On the second Saturday of each month, Hanauma Bay remains open until 10:00p.m."

 

[laxmom]

Thanks for the clarification on that. You Hawaii travelers stay safe!!!

 

[Kauai Kid]

Thanks for the clarification on that. You Hawaii travelers stay safe!!!

Unfortunately, the box jelly fish are not just confined to Hawaii but spreading throughout the world. (probably can't afford Hawaii real estate and time share taxes)

Sterling

 

[burg1121]

I'm not sure but I believe that the box jhan the ellies in AU. are a different species the box jellies in HI.
The venom of some box jellies can be deadly to humans as well. Of the 28 known species, only three can cause death in humans. These live in the Gulf of Mexico, Japan and Australia, according to Jamie Seymour. Seymour is the leading researcher of box jellyfish at James Cook University’s Tropical Australia Stinger Research Unit (TASRU) and has been studying these animals for 10 years.

 

[Kauai Kid]

I'm not sure but I believe that the box jhan the ellies in AU. are a different species the box jellies in HI.
The venom of some box jellies can be deadly to humans as well. Of the 28 known species, only three can cause death in humans. These live in the Gulf of Mexico, Japan and Australia, according to Jamie Seymour. Seymour is the leading researcher of box jellyfish at James Cook University’s Tropical Australia Stinger Research Unit (TASRU) and has been studying these animals for 10 years.

I believe he was on the NGS show jumping into waist deep mangrove water and catching box jellies with his bare hands--just the box part thank you very much!

 

[hibbeln]

Forget the jellyfish.....we won't go near the water at night because of sharks! (my kids are sure that as dusk falls the sharks start to stalk them).

We've been to Hawaii numerous times, and I distinctly remember being there for full moons. We've spent hours everyday in the water and neither seen nor been stung by a jellyfish. In fact, I always wonder why we've never seen a single jellyfish there even after logging many, many hours of snorkelling, scuba diving and beach walking. I know the turtles eat them, but do they eat ALL of them? Seems like while in Florida we always see man o' wars on the beach and in the water but never in Hawaii.....

 

[thinze3]

More box jellyfish in Hawaii!

More jellyfish including many box jellyfish were found Tuesday in Hawaii !

http://www.kitv.com/mostpopular/17303669/detail.html


Terry

 

[Sandy VDH]

I have seen sharks during the day all the time when scuba diving, but I have never seen a shark at night except when we come across a nurse shark sleeping. I think they feed more in the day than at night, since most are sight predators. At least the sharks that would come into contact with swimmers.

You have more to worry about driving a car than swimming in shark infested waters.

 

[burg1121]

You are right sharks are sight predators and because humans aren't their food of choice a large number of attacks happen at dusk because they have a harder time telling us from their food of choice.

 

[Lee B]

I saw that show, though I thought it was on Discovery channel. Oh well, it's an amazing show, impossible to ignore IMO.

The Irukandji is a box jelly, less than an inch across the box, and maybe three inches of tentacles and darn near impossible to see. Two scientists, one male one female, both got stung and suffered intense pain all over, not just at the sting site, for a week and 21 days respectfully. Then they went back into the water! looking for them again.

By then they had a trap using a light for attraction, have some in captivity and are studying them for an anti-venom.

Unlike other jellies, the box have a primitive brain and primitive eyes. Although you first think that they have to be at the bottom of the evolutionary ladder, they are wondrous killing machines. The stingers are amazingly perfect at killing higher organisms.