Torneyboy Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 That is a great advertisement for Adelaide... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Thais told me the only real danger of being bitten by a sea snake was if you stepped on one in the surf as you walked ashore. They said fishermen would occasionally find one in their net as they hauled it in and get bitten on a finger. The usual response was to chop off that finger with an axe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 That is a great advertisement for Adelaide... Best plonk in the world though. Just don't hitchhike or go near the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Must agree with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Thais told me the only real danger of being bitten by a sea snake was if you stepped on one in the surf as you walked ashore. They said fishermen would occasionally find one in their net as they hauled it in and get bitten on a finger. The usual response was to chop off that finger with an axe! Wow, the axe, efficient but painful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drogon Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Better my finger than another part of my body -> just watched snakes on a plane and I would prefer not to be beaten at a very sensitive place... This said, I suppose death would come quick as this part of my anatomy has a good blood circulation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Right Drogon, There's always an upside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 http://phuketwan.com/article/tourism/phuket-box-jellyfish-biologists-sound-alert/ Phuket Box Jellyfish: Biologists Sound Public Alert By Shanya Phattrasaya Thursday October 23, 2008 Breaking News THE DIRECTOR of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, Vannakiat Thubthimsaeng, has alerted key tourism groups, media, hospitals, local authorities and the island's new Governor to the presence of potentially dangerous box jellyfish in the waters of the region. His warning comes in a letter sent to a long list of people in high positions on the island. It follows the death of a Swedish girl off Koh Lanta in April and two news reports this week by Phuketwan that disclosed the presence of box jellyfish in the sea off Phuket's east coast. Box jellyfish have been found near at least one patch of mangroves not far from Phuket City. Scientists do not believe there is a likelihood of an outbreak on the west coast, the location of Phuket's best-known tourist beaches. In the letter, dated October 21, Khun Vannakiat recorded the death of the Swedish tourist off Koh Lanta, Krabi, on April 3 this year. A second tourist suffered stings in the incident but survived. ''The Phuket Marine Biological Center sent a team to conduct research in the area between July 2-4 with a team of researchers and a doctor from the Epidemiology Investigation and Surveilance Section of the Ministry of Public Health,'' the letter says. It goes on to warn fishermen, tourists and the public generally that box jellyfish have since been found in waters off Phuket. Shrimp nets were cast off Koh Lanta and in two hours, researchers captured six box jellyfish. On August 22, seven more box jellyfish were captured off Koh Lanta. On July 27-30, box jellyfish were also encountered in mangrove stake traps at Nam Bor Bay, (on Phuket's east coast, between Phuket City and Cape Panwa.) More were found in the same area between October 20-21, the letter said. The jellyfish tended to live near mangrove forests in brackish water, Khun Vannakiat added. He said there had been no sightings on Phuket's west coast. Phuketwan has been told that research is now being conducted in Australia, where box jellyfish are better-known, on the two distinct types of jellyfish found in Phuket and Krabi waters. Release of the letter poses a challenge this week for two men at the top who are new to their positions. The Governor of Phuket, Dr Preecha Roungjun, started his job on Monday. On Saturday, the new director of the regional office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Settapan Puttanee, is due to arrive to take up his post. Khun Settapan, who is transferring from his role as director in the TAT's New York office, has spent the past few months as a Buddhist monk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Analysis By Phuketwan editor Alan Morison POLITICAL uncertainty in Bangkok, protestors in the streets, war with a neighboring country, an airport blockade, a state of emergency declaration, the possibility of an avian flu breakout . . . All these things have loomed in 2008 as threats to tourism in Thailand, and especially Phuket. Who would have dreamed that the biggest and potentially most serious threat of all would emerge from under the water, in the shape of the fearsome box jellyfish? One of the great attractions of Phuket is that its waters are comparatively safe, particularly in high season. The discovery of box jellyfish in the process of expanding territory poses serious concerns for the future. A wider public warning and an alert system for further discoveries are both now essential. That will be the job of scientists and public health authorities. Phuket's marine biologists have done the right thing in alerting the island and the region to the presence of two types of box jellyfish, which have the potential to kill or inflict painful wounds. It would be a disgrace if people were stung, without a public alert being sounded. The box jellyfish has proved to be highly adaptable. Marine science is now trying to catch up. While researchers can tell us only a little about the two species now in the region's waters, we expect knowledge to improve rapidly with the combined help of local fisherfolk and Australian researchers. Tracking the jellyfish, mapping jellyfish territory, defining its habits and studying its life cycle should now become urgent priorities for scientists. In terms of what the public needs to be told, it's essential from here on that bulletins should be released whenever a new outbreak is discovered. As well as warning everyone of the present danger, Thailand's public health authorities now have the vital, constant task of keeping residents and visitors alert to the latest developments. Nobody wants to damage Phuket's tourism industry. We all hope these outbreaks will cease and that the jellyfish can be confined. But from now on, informing and protecting all those who set out into the sea becomes a much, much more important task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 http://phuketwan.com/article/tourism/phuket-box-jellyfish-are-we-in-danger/ Phuket Box Jellyfish: Are We In Danger? By Alan Morison Wednesday October 22, 2008 WE ARE looking for box jellyfish off Phuket. At least, one of us is looking for box jellyfish. The other three are hanging back and watching from a distance. It is only when we are in the water, with Phuket City about four kilometres away across the mangroves, that we notice a difference in approach here. The two marine scientists are in long trousers and shoes, while the two reporters are bare-legged and bare-footed. Essentially, that's one of the key issues for anyone paddling around in the sea off Phuket these days: Is there something we should be told, for our own safety? Box jellyfish are being found with regularity in the waters of Nam Bor Bay, on the island's south east coast, between the city's Saphan Hin garbage incinerator and Cape Panwa. Today two are captured in the first mangrove stake box trap we visit, in water up to our knees. More had been expected. Larger numbers have been captured and tipped into a bucket here most days recently. Today, probably because of the height of the tide, we have to settle for two. The discovery of box jellyfish off the coast of the holiday resort island is disconcerting and now poses a challenge for scientists and health authorities. ''This is all new to us,'' said Dr Somchai Bussarawit, the chief of the museum and aquarium at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre. Waters in Australia and parts of Asia invariably contain dangerous creatures that are not found in European climes. But the discovery of box jellyfish here has surprised and intrigued Dr Somchai and his hard-working colleague of 30 years, Surasit Utsaha. Khun Surasit is using a net to dip for the transparent jellyfish, which are impossible to see in the stake trap. The two he discovers are immature juveniles, with bodies smaller than tennis balls. Jellybabies, you could call them. Are their stings dangerous? Dr Somchai smiles. That's a matter for further research, and something none of us are keen to find out for ourselves today. Coincidentally, this beautiful spot is just a short drive down the road from the aquarium. Box jellyfish have an awesome reputation as killers in northern Australia. But only a few deaths have been reported officially so far in Thai waters. Strangely enough, the three known victims since 2002 have been an Australian, a Swiss and a Swedish girl off Koh Lanta in April. With so many Thais in and around the same waters in much greater numbers, how is it there have not been more reports of many more deaths? This is a question to be asked of the Thai health authorities. As Dr Somchai points out more than once, he is a scientist. The priority of his team of marine biologists now is to find out all he can about the box jellyfish off Phuket and Krabi. Has global warming contributed to the arrival of box jellyfish? Is it to do with too many fish being caught, reducing the natural predators? Could the toxic overflow from the garbage at Saphan Hin have something to do with it? Dr Somchai bats away these questions. Science is his forte and he will wait to see first what Australian researchers have to say about the jellyfish, probably very soon What Dr Somchai can say is that the box jellyfish have been found so far only in this particular stretch of mangroves off Phuket. Although a Phuketwan reader described a jellyfish attack at Nai Harn earlier this year, he believes Phuket's popular Western beaches are clear of any kind of jellyfish danger. Fishermen throughout the region are in the habit of alerting the centre to surprise discoveries, and the scientists are in touch regularly with public health officials. It will be their decision as to what information needs to be conveyed to the public, at what stage in the research into the box jellyfish, and in what form. Dr Somchai was able to tell us that one of the two varieties of box jellyfish, quite unusually, has a single eye and a single tentacle and is able to propel itself by swimming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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