Big Box Jellyfish Blog Southeast Asia

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...

Stinging and stabbing sea creatures are equally prevalent and dangerous in South-East Asia as they are in Australia. From Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald, the following article was published in Australia on 28 December 2018: 

Jellyfish have a knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and ruining your day with a nasty sting. For some the outcome can be highly traumatic or even tragic with lethal box jellyfish taking lives. Most are left with an itchy rash or burning skin and even a hospital visit and lasting scars. 

A selection of this blog's images from South-East Asia including box jellyfish, sting victims and locations. Thailand's Chironex indrasaksajiae S ucharitakul   sp. Langkawi, Malaysia Morbakka, Koh Tao, Thailand Koh Mak, Thailand Phuket, Thailand Koh Phangan, Thailand Koh Samui, Thailand Koh Lanta, Thailand Koh Samui, Thailand Philippines Thailand Training session, Thailand First Aid Vinegar Pole, Thailand Jellyfish prevention net, Thailand Koh Samui, Thailand All photo credits duly acknowledged where possible throughout the blog.

For almost 10 years, OceanLine - the Phuket-based importer and distributor of Safe Sea Sunscreen with Jellyfish Sting Protection - has been claiming that this product is effective in preventing stings from jellyfish. In one breath they say it "protects the skin against jellyfish stings" and in the other it "helps protect against most jellyfish". Well, which is it? All or most?   

Hawai'ian hospitality usually delivered with a traditional lei welcome has gone to the next level. And this time you could be the lucky one saying "aaaaaargh" instead of "aloha". The call has gone out on local TV for volunteers, and for a princely reward of US$100, you can subject your body and soul to a box jellyfish sting.

Venom from box jellyfish of the Chironex-type and Irukandji are insanely toxic. The former is known as the most venomous animal on the planet, while the latter causes prolonged pain and suffering that is almost incomparable.

What happens and what to do if you get stung by a box jellyfish? Just the slightest touch from a box jellyfish tentacle causes instantaneous excruciating pain. The victim will almost always scream in agony. Critically, you have a minute or two, if not seconds, in the heat of the moment to treat the victim or the consequences could be fatal. Delay could mean death.

At the moment there is believed to be around 50 species of Box Jellyfish. They all have their differences. Many are dangerous and only a few have the capacity to kill. The Chironex-type Box Jellyfish that inhabits Indo-Pacific seas and has caused fatalities from Australia to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the region is known as the most venomous animal on the planet.

T he archipelago of Indonesia is a sprawling series of tropical islands smack-bang in the middle of Indo-Pacific box jellyfish habitat between Australia and Thailand. It's a country not known for its information giving, transparency or willingness to listen.