Stinger strikes as nets stay in place

19.05.2010

DEADLY box jellyfish have forced
Surf Life Saving Queensland to
leave stinger nets in North Queensland
waters after originally planning
to remove them today.
Box jellyfish have maintained a
strong presence in North Queensland,
despite the season drawing to
a close.
A man narrowly escaped a sting at
South Mission Beach on Sunday
and a number of large specimens
have been found recently in Townsville.
Surf Life Saving Queensland will
not remove the nets until North
Queensland has 14 consecutive
stinger-free days following Sunday's
incident.
Cairns dentist David Curnock
could have been killed, but for the
stinger suit which protected him
when he ran into a box jellyfish 10m
offshore.
Surf Life Saving Queensland
found two huge specimens, measuring
28cm and 30cm, in drags at the
Tobruk Pool in March.
Several others were uncovered by
James Cook University researchers
only a fortnight ago at Pallarenda
and the Breakwater Marina.
Last year nets were not removed
from the water until well into June
due to similar out-of-season scares.
North Queensland waters have
also seen numerous irukandji stings
this season although only one unconfirmed
sting was recorded
within the flags, at Alma Bay in
December.
Surf Life Saving Queensland regional
manager Peter Roulston said
the late-season box jellyfish discoveries
proved how important it
was to wear a stinger suit yearround.
"Townsville nets would have been
taken out (today) starting at Balgal
Beach and the mainland and then
moving on to Magnetic Island," he
said.
"It is the end of the peak season,
which is what we work on, but there
is evidence out there that they are
found all year round, so the scientists
say.
"We highly recommend that
stinger suits be worn all year round,
not only for the fact there are
stingers around, but also for sun
safety, particularly here in North
Queensland."
Townsville region lifeguard
supervisor Russell Blanchard said
no one had been stung from within
the nets this year with the Alma
Bay sting taking place at a patrolled
but not stinger-protected beach.
The last person to be stung by a
venomous jellyfish in the Townsville
area was a 17-year-old girl who
came into contact with an irukandji
at Magnetic Island on April 11.
A week earlier, a 10-year-old boy
was rushed to Bowen Hospital after
being stung by irukandji at Bowen's
Horseshoe Bay.