{"id":173073,"date":"2025-06-10T13:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173073\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T13:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:45:14","slug":"warning-issued-as-irukandji-jellyfish-sting-two-swimmers-in-northern-wa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173073\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning issued as Irukandji jellyfish sting two swimmers in northern WA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swimmers in northern Western Australia have been being urged to take precautions after two people were stung by Irukandj jellyfish on Monday.<\/p>\n

The sting of the jellyfish can cause severe pain, nausea and breathing difficulties.<\/p>\n

Two people were admitted to hospital after swimming in the Ningaloo Marine Park.<\/p>\n

They have since been discharged.<\/p>\n

Griffith University PhD candidate Jess Strickland said two types of Irukandji were found in the Ningaloo region.<\/p>\n

“Keesingia gigas is the world’s largest species of Irukandji and they can get to over 50 centimetres long,” she said.<\/p>\n

“They sort of look like a giant rocket-ship.<\/p>\n

“The more common species we get is called Mallo bella.<\/p>\n

“It’s a lot smaller \u2014 it’s your typical sort of Irukandji jellyfish shape, so a small bell about the size of the tip of your thumb, and four tentacles, one coming off each corner.”<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

Keesingia gigas is the \u00a0largest species of Irukandji, Ms Strickland says. (Supplied: Jess Strickland)<\/p>\n

Ms Strickland said encounters were most likely during the dry season.<\/p>\n

“They’re most commonly sighted from March onwards and we’re seeing them through into August occasionally,” she said.<\/p>\n

“That’s the higher-risk period.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caution urged<\/p>\n

Ms Strickland said the best way to prevent stings was by wearing clothing that covered as much of the skin as possible, such as a lycra swimsuit.<\/p>\n

“They don’t actually have a brain, so they’re not consciously choosing to sting someone,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a trigger that happens automatically when the jellyfish would brush up against someone.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jess Strickland has been studying Irukandji for years. (Supplied: Jess Strickland)<\/p>\n

Ms Strickland said Irukandji delivered venom via a “sort of microscopic, harpoon-like structure”.<\/p>\n

“People are at risk of being stung if bare skin brushes up against them,” she said.<\/p>\n

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Exmouth District Marine Park coordinator Sallyann Gudge said Irukandji stings were rare, but park visitors needed to remain vigilant.<\/p>\n

She told ABC Regional Drive it was the first reported sting in the area since March.<\/p>\n

“It’s really important that people are aware Irukandji do occur within the waters of Ningaloo Marine Park,” Ms Gudge said.<\/p>\n

“Symptoms can progress rapidly \u2014 they need to get medical attention straight away.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The WA Country Health Service referred questions to the Department of Health.<\/p>\n

A WA Health spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swimmers in northern Western Australia have been being urged to take precautions after two people were stung by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[71816,71812,71813,71810,71817,71815,71814,70,16,15,71811,29592,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-173073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-are-irukandji-jellyfish-deadly","9":"tag-dbca","10":"tag-dry-season","11":"tag-irukandji","12":"tag-irukandji-symptoms","13":"tag-irukandji-syndrome","14":"tag-ningaloo-reef","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-wa-country-health-service","19":"tag-wa-news","20":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114659376482599540","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}