With the news today that Twin Falls in Kakadu National Park have been temporarily closed as park rangers search for 2 large saltwater crocodiles which have moved into the plunge pool, and the menacing 3 meter crocodile stalking Broome’s Cable Beach, I can’t help but giggle. We love a good dangerous animal story Down Under - we have plenty of them, and we love visitors to our shores to hear all about them! Nothing is more fun for most Aussies than to terrorise tourists with stories of killer spiders, deadly snakes (we have 7 out of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world, though some lists say we have all 10!), rogue crocodiles and giant sharks - it’s almost a national hobby!

Welcome to Queensland…

I spent last weekend in Queensland in a lovely town called Airlie Beach. Crystal clear turqoise water, rainforest surrounds, warm weather and of course the stunning Whitsunday Islands. It’s everything you could ask for in a pre-winter escape as the temparatures in Sydney plunge. However, it is the tropics and with that comes some of our less than cuddly creatures, that’s right there is more to Oz than Koalas and Kangaroos.

Spending a day on a cruise out to the islands there was the chance to go for a snorkel and check out the Great Barrier Reef. Absolutely, I’ll be in that, I love any time I can spend in the water, particularly when fish and coral is involved. Did I mention it’s the tropics and in Australia we love our dangerous creatures? Introducing Queensland’s favorite marine species - the Box Jellyfish and Irukanji!

As a result of these two charming local inhabitants, most cruise operators strongly recommend visitors hire a stinger suit (a kind of very lightweight wet suit) when going in the water. Naturally it’s not for the $5 per suit fee, they have your best interest at heart I’m sure. The funny thing is the way they sell the idea to people. “It’s up to you but we HIGHLY recommend it…”, “They don’t use Stinger suits in Cairns (not true by the way!) and they had 23 stings last month, we had none…”, “I’m not saying they will be here but do you get into a car without putting on a seatbelt?”. Not to scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting tourists or anything, but they do love a bit of the old “If a box jellyfish gets you, you’ll be dead before you can scream!”.

Hmmm, just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water…

Personally, I have never worn a stinger suit. Not out of misguided bravery or anything like that, I just hate them. They make you float (which can be a good thing if you aren’t a confident swimmer) and they smell! But it is important to differentiate between the two occasions on which one may wear them. If you are swimming at a beach at certain times of the year, there are netted enclosures which are designed to keep the deadly Box Jellyfish at bay. However, this particular species can have very long tentacles (up to 3 meters) which are thin enough to get through the net. If you are swimming in an enclosure, you should stay well away from the edges and wear a stinger suit - just in case.

Box Jellyfish are not to be messed with, if you are stung you really have little hope of surviving. The poison is extremely fast acting and if you make it out of the water before going into shock and drowning, you only have a matter of minutes until your heart stops, not to mention the excrutiating pain. Anyone who swims outside of the enclosures during stinger season has a serious death wish - these things are your worst nightmare! The good news? They are only found along the coastline, mainly around river estuaries, and Box Jellyfish have never been found on the Great Barrier Reef.

Look for the warning signs before taking the plunge in the tropics

So why the stinger suits? Well, that would be for the aforementioned Irukanji. These guys are not as terrifying as Box Jellyfish, but none the less worth knowing about. There has been occasional deaths by Irukanji stings, however these cases usually involve pre-existing heart conditions and allergic reactions. The problem with these little guys is that they are transparent and very small, only about 2 centimeters or an inch for our American metric friends, basically impossible to spot from in or out of the water. Not to forget as well, the sting is not pleasant. The initial sting is not that painful, but within about half an hour the whole body will hurt, the vomiting begins and the pain becomes unbearable. Sounds horrific, but you should live to tell the story. Unfortunately these are the stingers found on the Great Barrier Reef, so the Whitsundays has their fair share.

As I said, I have never worn a stinger suit and I have never been stung. I have been snorkeling on the reef more times than I can remember, so the chances of being stung seem pretty low. However who knows how close I have come to having this unpleasant and most importantly holiday ending, experience, so probably best not to listen to me!

If it’s any comfort - there are no sharks in the Whitsundays…ok, so maybe a couple of really little reef sharks visit from time to time, but there’s no REAL sharks!

Can I also take this opportunity to ask all foreign visitors to take note of the signs randomly dotted around the northern parts of Australia that say “No Swimming - Estuarine Crocodiles inhabit this area“. These are here for a reason, seriously it’s not just for tourists to take photos of, it actually means what it says yet every year at least one overseas visitor to Australia who has ignored it doesn’t live to confirm the fact.

Now, have I told you the story of the time when a cyclone flooded Port Douglas and there was a crocodile walking down the main street - maybe a story for another day…

-Kerrie O’Mahony

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Australia & Pacific, Destinations, Weird & Wonderful. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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