jaribas
4th November 2010, 11:24
5199
Scientists are expecting a bumper season for lethal stingers, such as box jellyfish and Irukandjis, in Queensland and West Australian waters this year.
Experts say they are baffled by the early appearance of jellyfish in southern waters.
Thousands of non-lethal jellyfish have also been spotted in waters off Moreton Bay in south-east Queensland and Perth in Western Australia.
With summer approaching, increasing numbers of people will be heading to beaches across the country.
Stinger nets are being rolled out across north Queensland beaches and lifeguards are preparing for the height of the stinger season.
Peter Roulston from Surf Life Saving Queensland has treated countless swimmers who have been stung by box jellyfish and Irukandji in north Queensland.
"The box jellyfish grows up to about 30 centimetres, which is about the size of a bucket with long tentacles that come out of four points, and straight away it's instantaneous, it's a burning sensation and quite painful," he said.
"The Irukandji is about the size of your thumbnail and it has four tentacles and what it does is affects you about 15 to 20 minutes after you've actually been stung."
Mr Roulston says the non-lethal stingers are already turning up in nets in north Queensland.
"What we class as the peak stinger season is from November 1 up to May or when we stop catching any samples," he said.
"So this year we have had a few coming in a bit early."
Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin from the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Service agrees, saying it is shaping up to be an unusual stinger season.
She says a different species of jellyfish has been discovered in its thousands off the south-east Queensland coast earlier and further south than normal.
And she says it could mean more lethal species will turn up further north as the weather warms up.
"I've been working in north Queensland and [with] Australian jellyfish now for 12 years and I haven't seen this sort of a pattern in this time," she said.
"I think it's reasonable that we might actually have a bumper season this year."
She says months of wet weather could be to blame.
But Dr Gershwin says the jellyfish discovery will teach Australian marine scientists a lot about the species.
Scientists are expecting a bumper season for lethal stingers, such as box jellyfish and Irukandjis, in Queensland and West Australian waters this year.
Experts say they are baffled by the early appearance of jellyfish in southern waters.
Thousands of non-lethal jellyfish have also been spotted in waters off Moreton Bay in south-east Queensland and Perth in Western Australia.
With summer approaching, increasing numbers of people will be heading to beaches across the country.
Stinger nets are being rolled out across north Queensland beaches and lifeguards are preparing for the height of the stinger season.
Peter Roulston from Surf Life Saving Queensland has treated countless swimmers who have been stung by box jellyfish and Irukandji in north Queensland.
"The box jellyfish grows up to about 30 centimetres, which is about the size of a bucket with long tentacles that come out of four points, and straight away it's instantaneous, it's a burning sensation and quite painful," he said.
"The Irukandji is about the size of your thumbnail and it has four tentacles and what it does is affects you about 15 to 20 minutes after you've actually been stung."
Mr Roulston says the non-lethal stingers are already turning up in nets in north Queensland.
"What we class as the peak stinger season is from November 1 up to May or when we stop catching any samples," he said.
"So this year we have had a few coming in a bit early."
Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin from the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Service agrees, saying it is shaping up to be an unusual stinger season.
She says a different species of jellyfish has been discovered in its thousands off the south-east Queensland coast earlier and further south than normal.
And she says it could mean more lethal species will turn up further north as the weather warms up.
"I've been working in north Queensland and [with] Australian jellyfish now for 12 years and I haven't seen this sort of a pattern in this time," she said.
"I think it's reasonable that we might actually have a bumper season this year."
She says months of wet weather could be to blame.
But Dr Gershwin says the jellyfish discovery will teach Australian marine scientists a lot about the species.