Welcome to the next
installment of Shit That Can Kill You Friday's!
This week STCKYF
features one of my favorite deadly animals, the Irukandji Jellyfish (pronounced IRR-ə-KAN-jee).
Native to Australia and
relative of the infamous box jellyfish, the Irukandji is one of the most
venomous jellyfish in the world. The irukandji not only has stingers on its
four (relatively) long tentacles, it also has stingers covering its bell. This
means that no matter where you contact this jelly, it WILL sting you. The
Irukandji's venom is 100 times more potent than a cobra's. When you are
stung, you suffer from "Irukandji syndrome", a term coined by the
Irukandji people native to an area north of Queensland. The syndrome is
characterized by "excruciating muscle cramps in the extremities,
severe pain behind the kidneys, burning skin, nausea, vomiting, increased heart
rate, high blood pressure, brain hemorrhages and psychological phenomena
such as the feeling of impending doom". THE FEELING OF IMPENDING DOOM!
HOLY SHIT. That might be the scariest venom symptom I have ever read. These
effects can last for weeks. Think about that, feeling
psychologically doomed for weeks while lying in a hospital bed hooked up
to a morphine drip along with a plethora of other drugs. That's some
super scary stuff.
The Irukandji packs an
impressive punch for such a little guy. An adult Irukandji is only about one
cubic centimeter in size (same size as a standard six-sided die). Because they
are so small, they can pass through jellyfish nets that protect beach goers
from box jellyfish at especially high-risk areas. They can even sting through
protective suits designed to protect divers from box jellyfish. There is no
escape from these miniature murderers.
If you swim off the
Australian coast, you will get stung by an Irukandji, and you will die.
Plain and simple. You won't go quickly either. These sadistic monsters want you
to suffer excruciating pain before you die. Well, they would want you to
suffer if they had brains, but they don't.
Stay safe out there.
--
Charles R Mercer
Amateur Zoologist
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