Box Jellyfish Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines & The Region

  Zoe Cahill, a 23-year old Australian, was 50-metres offshore at Zen Beach on Koh Phangan last October when she swam into a box jellyfish and received excruciating life-threatening stings.  Alone in shock and agony, crying and screaming, Zoe managed to get back to land, collapsed and critically began to turn blue.  First-responders doused her in litres of vinegar while a nurse performed CPR and, after restoring vital signs, she was rushed to the local hospital.  An emergency speed-boat transported Zoe to Koh Samui where with extreme sting damage to limbs and torso she remained in a hospital bed for a month. Zoe's story as covered in mainstream media including Australia's 9 News and  related to thousands of her  @zoe_cahill  Instagram followers on  social media is another cautionary tale of survival with box jellyfish in South-East Asia. The great news for Zoe, her loved ones and her followers is that she did survive and the good news for everyone else is that Thailand's bo

Most have at some stage or another had to try through gritted teeth answering the one question we do not want to or cannot: how bad is the pain? From a stubbed toe to a migraine, the intensity impacted by the patient's pain threshold obviously varies. Many know that jellyfish stings are usually bad but box jellyfish stings, no matter who you are, are so bad they almost defy description. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is mild and 10 is unimaginable and unspeakable, box jellyfish stings as so eloquently put by lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel when explaining his amp in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, "... go to eleven." American professor Brian Fry from the University of Queensland, Australia is a venom expert and when rating that country's Top 10 most painful stings he placed two cubozoa or box jellyfish species at the top.  Coming in second was the Chironex and at number one was the Irukandji . Chironex is a Chirodropida or multi-tentacle box jellyfish and Irukandji

  There is so much unknown about what creatures live in our oceans but a recent discovery in Thailand has at least narrowed the mystery down by one. And this time it is a new genus and species of box jellyfish found in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Named Gershwinia thailandensis after renowned jellyfish expert Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin, this single-tentacle cubozoa was found through physical and molecular analyses to be distinct from its distant relatives in the Irukandji family including the Morbakka or Fire Jellyfish. Interestingly, at least eleven species of box jellyfish have been collected in waters around Thailand in recent years with only four being described including the deadly Chironex indrasaksajiae responsible for numerous deaths and serious injury. Gershwinia thailandensis is not believed to be a killer per se but is considered to be dangerous causing considerable pain with potential symptoms similar to Irukandji syndrome and the possibility of cardiac arrest. This

  Box jellyfish are learners, not thinkers, according to a recent study conducted by a team of German and Danish scientists. We know that box jellyfish are brainless and rely on a nervous system developed over millions of years to navigate and hunt their prey. It's a fact that box jellyfish have some kind of short-term memory, though it's unclear how long this learned behaviour lasts. In this case, a Caribbean species of box jellyfish, tripedalia cystophora which is also found in South-East Asia, was studied resulting in clear evidence they can learn to manoeuvre around obstacles to avoid a potentially damaging collision. The roots of mangrove trees, which form the breeding ground for box jellyfish, get in the way of catching small fish and prawns, and can snag fragile tentacles. So, these box jellyfish use their visual senses - their 24 eyes - to swim around the roots.    If the same exists in other box jellyfish including the lethal chironex species, and it is understood tha

  Right now, there are a lot of very good people working to make everyone box jellyfish-safe and sting-free in South-East Asian seas. Their number are small but they're a dedicated bunch committing themselves to surveilling, testing, researching, communicating, training, educating, treating and advancing the cause of effective box jellyfish prevention and sting treatment. Through interconnected active networks from the beach to the bureaucrats, change is taking place with  knowledge, strategies and actions progressively making a positive difference. Their message to the public is simple: Swim inside a prevention net if one's available. Wear a full-length lycra stinger suit if outside a net. Immediately and only use vinegar on a sting.   And then there is peeing. Urinating on some poor victim's jellyfish sting is widely, and wrongly, considered an accepted treatment. It's not, okay? And what's worse, if that's possible, whenever there's mention of a jellyfish

Box jellyfish are most probably, though officially unnamed, the species responsible for the death of a 5-year old French boy in Malaysia this week.   Sadly, the tragic news comes as no surprise with Malaysia still unwilling to create a network of awareness including effective prevention and treatment systems as its neighbour Thailand has done with considerable success. The boy was playing or wading in shallow water at Teluk Nipah beach on Pangkor Island with his family when he was struck by the jellyfish. He screamed in agony and was taken onto the sand where he lapsed into unconsciousness. Taken to the local health clinic, the boy was officially pronounced dead within 45 minutes.  We are sorry to say that this scenario is typical of a box jellyfish sting - a child, shallow sandy beach, an agonising scream, panicked parents, no understanding of proper treatment, shocking painful death. We are also sorry to say that this scenario is avoidable. It does not need to happen. Government depa

  Hungry? Got a craving for something completely different? We are a serious bunch here on the blog. There's nothing funny about a box jellyfish sting, though as a creature they are fascinating, not sure about tasty, but certainly amazing.  Our post describing the curious nature and habits of them does take a light-hearted look, and OK yes, we do sometimes lose ourselves in a somewhat over-inflated sense of humour to make a point or two.  Here are a few examples: What Is A Box Jellyfish? Big Dream Boatman Research In Hawaii However, what follows is absurd. Can we say from the outset, kids, adults, everyone, please, DO NOT TRY THIS, EVER! We are only linking to these insane YouTube videos to boggle the mind and highlight what is clearly a bad idea. Having said that, perhaps, just perhaps, they are onto something. Some species of jellyfish are indeed edible. We've never tried it so cannot judge on taste, texture, after-effects, etc. But, particularly in some parts of Asia, jellyf

  Thailand may not have got everything perfect in its fight against box jellyfish, but it has got a lot right and been nothing short of proactive and persistent. A far cry from a number of its neighbours. Box jellyfish stings still occur in Thailand as do the occasional fatalities. No surprise here with so many beaches being their natural habitat. However, it could be much worse. In 2015, for example, popular Koh Samui was in a world of pain with a series of widely-publicised box jellyfish deaths threatening the island's rich tourism industry. Instead of burying their heads in the sand as others have, the Thais took the initiative and created a prevention and treatment program involving experts, government officials, hospitals and locals. It worked. And it still works. There are now many examples on this blog of how the Thais have achieved such impressive results. There are also some examples of what they have got wrong, though they are far outweighed by the successes. Thailand is

  One of a number of countries in South-East Asia and around the world to open their doors and welcome back sadly-missed touri$ts, Thailand is at last seeing those endless, swarming queues at Suvarnabhumi Immigration - though obviously not hordes of Russians - meaning beach resorts are once more teeming with thawing bodies and tan oil while, as the latest box jellyfish warning tells us, an unwelcome local annoyance is waiting to spoil the fun. Koh Mak towards the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand is no stranger to box jellyfish and severe life-threatening stings. This beautiful, laidback, environmentally-progressive island deserves better than to have potentially-deadly jellyfish causing concern; it is a gem.  The swaying palms, sweeping sands, inviting water and postcard views from lazy, mostly-deserted beaches belie an intermittent but persistent box jellyfish problem and, recently, reports of their presence in numbers as well as stings are rearing their worrying heads again.

  Tragically, it can happen anywhere there is a known, or unknown, habitat and presence of box jellyfish. It can be a beautiful, calm, tropical sandy beach. There can be many people, a few or none. Someone might even be wearing a protective lycra suit, though this is unlikely. Sometimes there are warning signs, often not. Perhaps there is a prevention net, usually there isn't. Or, there might be a lifeguard or two patrolling the beach and occasionally dragging a sampling net.  There may recently have been a mild or serious jellyfish sting there, or far worse, a fatal sting, but there is no obvious record or information.  You, eager to swim, wanting to cool down in the immersive sea in such a spectacular setting, naturally head unaware into the water. Little do you realise, or maybe you do but what are the odds, that the risk is ever-present and this swim could be your last. On the weekend, at a popular beach in Australia's far north-east, it happened, again. Sadly, a 14-year ol

  "Scientists have now also discovered that other species of jellyfish, most notably other cubozoans or box jellyfish (of which Irukandji is one of the smallest) also give rise to this syndrome. There are at least 8–12 other species of Irukandji jellyfish found in Australian waters. Most have been documented in the warmer waters of the east coast. Research has revealed that they also like to extend their tentacles and have caused injury in other parts of the world. Unfortunately there are no definitive tests that can confirm if patients are the victims of Irukandji stings. Treatment of the cryptic syndrome is also complex due to the varying symptoms, so it’s easy to misdiagnose." - Australian Geographic  If you've ever inexplicably felt like hell some time after emerging from the sea in South-East Asia and more than likely went to hospital where you could not get any relief from medication, comfort from loved ones and an explanation from doctors, a box jellyfish sting and