Among other things which can maim or kill, or at least cause excruciating pain, jellyfish deserve a mention too. Although they have always been around, they have been especially prolific this year. The Gold Coast has been plagued by Blue Bottles and Fraser Island has had an invasion of Irukandji jellyfish. The box jelly fish known as Stingers which used be seen mainly around the Northern Territory in the Wet Season from November to May, have now extended their range down the east coast as far as the Whitsundays and linger around until July. Warmer ocean temperatures are blamed for this. See the National Geographic for more including excellent pictures Blue Bottles I’ll start with the Portuguese Man-o’-War or Blue Bottle ( Physalia utriculus) which has been in the news lately because thousands have washed up on the shores around South East Queensland in recent weeks with over 3,000 people being treated for stings on one weekend. They are easy to r...
Practising Geographer - nature culture places people