German tourist dies of jellyfish sting

[PeteC]

A 20-year-old German woman died and her friend was slightly injured on Tuesday after poisonous box jellyfish stung them during a nightime swim at Lamai Beach in Surat Thani's Koh Samui, police said yesterday. The German tourist was pronounced dead at Bangkok Samui Hospital.
Surat Thani Fishery official Pornsak Sakthani has advised Samui district officials to survey all beaches on the island for box jellyfish and issue warnings to tourists.

Since 1998, Surat Thani province has reported 10 tourist deaths from box jellyfish stings and this case was the third known fatality in months. Two previous cases took place in the nearby Koh Pha-ngan; a Thai woman was stung and died this August and a five-year-old French boy was stung fatally last August.

The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nationa ... 70421.html

Additional article: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -jellyfish

[crispernator]

When i was in the army i was posted to far north queensland and they are prevalent at certian times of the year ,only defence i know of is vinegar to help with the toxin in the stinger ,even if you get away with just a minor sting it will leave a permanent reminder on your skin ,these things will kill you quickly if you are badly stung beware

[PeteC]

Some letter writer in the BKK Post this morning said that over fishing of squid in the Gulf is a primary cause of increased jellyfish populations here. I knew sea turtles dined on Jelly fish, but not squid. He is correct however that over fishing of everything is rampant here. Soon to be a watery wasteland. Pete

[Big Boy]

When I started my nightly beach walks back in about January, I rarely saw a squid boat off Hua Hin beach. Now there are hundreds every night (beautiful to see). I don't know if squid fishing is a seasonal thing, but it seems to be more than just a coincidence the return of the jellyfish is at the same time as the return of the squid boats.

[PeteC]

If I see the articles I'll post them but I think the Japanese have begun mass jellyfish harvesting and turning them into fertilizer or some other useful product. I think it also said Greenpeace was protesting against it....as usual. Pete

[Big Boy]

They're putting up warning signs here in Hua Hin:

[crispernator]

Probably a good thing but unfortunately these little fellas are a bit hard to see and there tentacles are enormous ,let us hope they have a good supply of vinegar on hand to treat any stings before rushing the afected person to hospital ,just to give you an idea how deadly these things are ,a guy was stung in the water offof townsvilles main beach ,the general hospital is on the other side of the road running along it ,by the time they got him from the water to the hospital emergency dept and a doctor came to look at him ,he said let him go and stop cpr .But wait theres more they have a cousin called the iracangi and he is only tiny and and with these guys size does not matter he is as deadly as his bigger mate .Normally a seasonal thing but they do have a stinger suit the lifesavers use i used one when sailboarding there neck to toe licra suit be carefull .