Stingers put bite on coast

Andrew Mathieson
A SPATE of bluebottle jellyfish attacks has taken the sting out of summer fun on Surf Coast beaches, according to lifesavers.
They reported an increase in beachgoers suffering stings from the sea jelly over the past month.
Torquay Surf Life Saving Club captain Keith Millar said beachgoers had called on lifesavers to treat an increase number of stinging attacks.
“We’ve had a few days where people have been coming up to the patrol and saying they’ve been stung,” he said.
“I haven’t seen any serious cases, though.”
Mr Millar said surf lifesavers had been forced to apply hot water to give victims pain relief.
Contact with the tentacles of a bluebottle can trigger its venomous stinging cells to pierce the skin.
Mr Millar said most attacks were occurring in “flagged” waters.
“It’s not often we have problem with jellyfish in Torquay, so it’s a little bit unusual that we have quite a bit more than normal.
“Before Christmas there seemed to be a spate of them.”
Mr Millar said swimmers with exposed skin were at risk.
“The people who have been most affected are those without wetsuits but I’ve also had a few surfers come up with stings on their hands or feet from when they have been paddling through and they touched one.”
A jellyfish expert warned that climatic changes could be behind the rise in reported cases.
The Geelong region has experienced increased humidity this summer in line with heavy rain.
Melbourne Aquarium head curator Paul Hamilton said jellyfish were unpredictable.
“Bluebottles generally live in warm tropical and subtropical waters and are found Australia-wide at differing times throughout the year,” he said.
“Due to their lack of independent means of propulsion, they are tide and wind-dependent, relying on the ocean to guide them as they simply drift on the currents or attempt to catch the wind.”