Big Box Jellyfish Blog Southeast Asia

  Sad news from Sabah with a 7-year old girl succumbing to the deadly venom of a box jellyfish sting.  Little has been reported about the child or the incident, though it's said that she collapsed on the sand when coming out of shallow water, and a subsequent post mortem concluded that the " cause of death was jellyfish envenomation ". Her tragic death occurred at Pantai Sawangan in Kuala Penyu, south-west of Kota Kinabalu,  on Thursday 21 August, 2025. This region too commonly is the site of serious box jellyfish stings and fatalities.   Devastatingly, it's unlikely there were any warning signs or information posters or even treatment options such as vinegar available at this popular beach. There appears to be a lot of work behind the scenes at a scientific level, though on Malaysia's beachfronts there's a continued pattern of young children dying from box jellyfish stings. Not so in northern neighbour Thailand where a decline in sting numbers and improved vi...

  The Philippines has taken a much-needed step toward saving lives with the recent release of a  jellyfish safety video   by the Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (PSAAI).  While this might seem insignificant, it's actually a very  positive  move forward after decades of inaction and recent public and political outcry that erupted over the preventable deaths of innocent children. As posted HERE in September 2024 about the tragic death of five-year-old Kiera and consequent public anguish expressed by her devastated mother  Jahaziel Michaellie Maningdin; the people have pleaded, the government has listened, and this  PSAAI  video goes some way in raising awareness and honouring the memory and legacy of not only Kiera, but numerous other children whose young lives were ended by a box jellyfish sting. Sadly and poignantly, as the video was released and this post was being written, two 10-year-old children tragically died fro...

So, how safe is Koh Samui? There's been plenty of confusion and panic. Is it OK to swim? How many of these 'killer jellyfish' are there? Where are they? What do they look like? How big is the risk? What do I do if I get stung? Here is the original guide, followed by a September 2026 update. The risk remains.

  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 sp...

  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 a...

  "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...

Box jellyfish are widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific region and, while this blog is primarily focused on South-East Asia, tragic news of a fatality in a far north-east corner of tropical Australia resonates with relevancy throughout thousands of similar coastal communities. A young man of 17 has sadly lost his life, stung by a box jellyfish while net fishing with family at a faraway beach on the York Peninsula.  Box jellyfish are active right across the northern stretch of Australia during the wet season from October to May and stings from Chironex fleckerii and Irukandji occur though deaths are uncommon. Australia has developed a reasonably sophisticated and successful system of prevention and treatment education and tools so as to avoid tragic deaths such as that which occurred at Bamaga in Queensland this week. But, it's far from perfect. In fact, its effectiveness through concerted effort over a number of years is limited to specific places and areas, us...

Social distancing takes to the sea with Singapore's popular playground island of Sentosa shocked by the sight of a large box jellyfish in its midst on 3 July, 2020.  Furthermore, Singapore's shock gets worse with reports of several stings.  Marine Stewards posted a video to Facebook of a large single-tentacle cubozoan at ONE15 Marina and word soon spread on social media warning people to stay out of the water. WATCH THE SENTOSA BOX JELLYFISH VIDEO The video shows the unsociable box jellyfish swimming solo on the water's surface with three long tentacles draping behind it - one seems to have gone missing in action. The appearance is that of a Morbakka, and it is certainly one to avoid.  While a multi-tentacle box jellyfish or Chirodropid (specifically Chironex species, as pictured atop of our home page) is considered the world's most venomous animal and is responsible for dozens of deaths annually throughout South-East Asia, the Morbakka is in the scientific order of Car...

And off to the children's playground we go. Not one with monkey bars, swing, slide nor merry-go-round. This time, let's join heroic vlogger-adventurer Finn Snow in the Philippines as he does something stupid and risky while telling others how to be stupid and risky so he can be popular, and make money or save money with free tours. The title of his video is  'How To Juggle BOX JELLYFISH (Blindfolded)'. Sorry, that should be,  'How To Safely Hold BOX JELLYFISH (Coron Palawan)'. Keep in mind that box jellyfish are widely known as the world's most venomous animal. Dozens of innocent victims are killed by them every year in the Philippines, mainly children.  The title is dumb, the content is dumber and the advice is the dumbest.   Unless you want to indulge in the endless narcissism of the flawless Finn Snow and his model side-kick who vainly attempt to eclipse a stunning Philippines' backdrop, fast-forward his Youtube video to around 6:50 minutes...