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Comment by andrewstuart | Hacker News Reader

FYI if you're not Australian ..... box jellyfish is one of the most deadly creatures on earth.

Because of box jellyfish you cannot swim at any beach in northern Australia - you risk death if you swim at any beach anywhere from Gladstone in Queensland upwards.

Same thing with saltwater crocodiles. Anywhere north of Gladstone you take your life in your hands if you swim cause a salty might eat you, literally.

Worst case you get stung by a box jellyfish then eaten by a saltwater crocodile. No swimming!

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> FYI if you're not Australian ..... box jellyfish is one of the most deadly creatures on earth.

..And sounding even worse now.

You can swim fairly safely outside of Summer/Autumn though advisable to still wear a stinger suit to minimise the risk. And salties are pretty rare even as far north as Cairns.

I spent a few fantastic days snorkling off the beach at Fitzroy Island one December and turns out I should have been more concerned about sharks after a marine researcher was bitten recently at the spot I was casually swimming around.

Stay aground in Oz and all you have to fear is getting talked into drinking goon

On land you'll very likely be bitten by a redback spider, fall over onto the nest of a funnelweb spider which will also bite you and as you roll away in agony you'll roll onto a nest of tiger snakes, death adders, taipans and brown snakes. Leaping up to run away you'll very likely run in a Gympie Gympie tree whose leaves are covered in fine, silica-tipped hairs that release a potent neurotoxin when touched. Australia is a dangerous place.

Best to stay inside programming.

We should demo a mars colony there.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for drop bears too! They're a particularly aggressive species of koala that are known to jump out of trees and attack unsuspecting humans.

I thought they were polar?

bipolar :P

Or the emus. We've gone to war against them and lost.

If you think a tree can't be that bad, the story with Gympie Gympie goes some officer during WW2 did wipe his butt with a leaf, the pain was such that he killed himself.

What the parent doesn't mention in the water alongside the croc and box jelly is the irukandji which is extremely common and extremly dangerous as well while being as small as a fingernail.

With all those things around, Australia is an amazing place, the moral of the story is ask the locals before you do something you'll regret, they are the ones who knows and if you ask before you will be fine

Irukandji are box jellyfish, just tiny small ones.

From wikipedia:

"The first of these jellyfish, Carukia barnesi, was identified in 1964 by Jack Barnes; to prove it was the cause of Irukandji syndrome, he captured the tiny jellyfish and allowed it to sting him, his nine-year-old son and a robust young lifeguard. They all became seriously ill, but survived".

That's some dedication to science.

Australia is where nature makes "NO TRESPASSING" signs.

I didn't know crocodiles were so big! https://maps.app.goo.gl/rnNRoK9gCwVBN3LUA

thought you can wear woman’s stockings and can be immune or was that a myth?

Off the top of my head, it's possibly a partial myth.

Although they do have suits you can wear to protect against Jelly Fish stings. Clearly barrier protection is effective.

So I suppose the myth portion comes from the efficacy of different types of stockings.

Fishnets probably dont do much good.... Super thick ones of a quality material probably do work!

I'm not sure of the sting mechanism of jellyfish and what level of barrier protection would work.

Stinger suits, basically like a full body wetsuit with a hoodie (and even gloves). You can comfortably wear one all day, with the added bonus of full sun protection.

Wearing womens stockings may not protect you from box jellyfish but will certainly make you look nice.

Not a myth. The stinging cells work not by mechanical touch but in reaction to chemicals on skin. Pantyhose apparently prevent the contact with skin which would trigger the stinging cells.

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