Armed and dangerous

The yacht was anchored 200 meters off the Qeensland coast when Chris Slough dived into the water. That’s when it got him. “I felt a couple of little stings on my chest,” he says, “but I thought nothing of it and carried on”. But as soon as he got back on the boat he realized he was in a big trouble. “I suddenly came over very nauseous”, he says. Within minutes he was in agonizing pain, vomiting and struggling to breathe. “It felt like my organs were popping out”.

Chris had been stung by an irukandji, a vicious creature named after an aboriginal tribe whose folklore tells of a terrible illness that struck people who went swimming in the sea. Irukandjis, a species of box jellyfish, grow no bigger than a peanut, yet relative to their size are probably the most toxic creatures on earth, putting many people in hospital each year with “irukandji syndrome”. All but invisible in the water, their transparent bodies are covered from head to tentacle tip in stinger cells that discharge at the slightest touch, harpooning your skin with venomous barbs. The sting itself is often so mild that you barely notice it – until the powerful venom kicks in.

Exercise 2 Answer the questions.

1. What sort of creature is this?
2. What do you think is unusual about it?
3. Which part of its body can you identify?
4. What do you think they use them for?
5. Who was stung by an irukandji?