Hey Everyone!
Today I’m here to tell you about the world’s most dangerous sea creatures.
And when I say dangerous, I mean really dangerous.
If you google dangerous sea creatures you will see things like stingrays, titan triggerfish
and barracudas.
Yes, those animals can sting and bite, but with rare exceptions, they are not going to
be life threatening injuries.
No, I’m talking about really dangerous animals, like for example the Blue Ringed Octopus.
This little guy is no larger than a golf ball, but packs a neurotoxin venom strong enough
to kill people.
In fact, one blue ringed octopus has enough venom at any one time to kill 26 people.
And there is no anti-venom, so if you get bit, you are probably going to die, period.
Stay away from these little guys.
The good news is that they are not aggressive at all.
It you leave them alone, they leave you alone.
The box jellyfish is another one to avoid, but these guys can be hard to avoid.
At night they are attracted to light, so they are a constant concern when surfacing at the
end of a night dive near a dive boat or jetty where the light has attracted them.
There are 51 species of these jellies with 4 tentacles covered in stinging cells.
Most are not dangerous, just painful.
But a couple species are so powerful that they have killed more than 64 people in Australia
alone.
The venom causes cardiovascular collapse and is particularly dangerous to kids.
I was stung on my ear by one of the less dangerous species in the Caribbean a few years ago during
a night dive, and it felt like my ear was on fire for about two hours.
I can attest that you definitely want to steer clear of these babies!
Most people will never see a Stonefish until they step on it, due to its amazing camouflage.
Fortunately, stepping on one is probably the only way to get it to sting, since these fish
rarely move while waiting for food to come within range, and they have no desire to attack
anyone.
But if it does sting you, you are in for a world of hurt.
Although death is possible, most people just experience days of searing pain, which has
been described as the “Most excruciating pain known to man.”
The good news is that there is an anti-venom for it.
But the best thing you can do is stick the affected limb into the hottest possible water
you can tolerate because the heat breaks down the venom.
This innocent-looking mollusk is a cone shell.
Basically, a killer snail.
There are 800 species of cone shells, but they are all venomous.
The most venomous species can kill adult humans when they jab with their venom-tipped tooth,
so they should never be handled.
In some places, they are colloquially known as cigarette snails because if you are stung
by one, you will have just enough time to smoke a cigarette before you die.
But that’s not true, because nobody smokes cigarettes anymore, those are even worse for
you than cone shells.
This handsome flower urchin just begs to be petted like a tribble.
Oh you don’t know what a tribble is?
Google that.
Anyway, you definitely do NOT want to pet one of these urchins.
With most urchins, we are worried about the pointed spines, but this one is different.
The spines are harmless.
All those flower-looking things on there are pedicellaria which deliver not one but two
different toxins.
In combination they deliver paralysis, difficulty breathing, numbness and disorientation.
Although an actual death from this urchin has not been confirmed, I can tell you that
I do not want to test them!
Get it?
Urchin test?
Look it up.
We are going to end on this guy, the Sea Snake.
Sea snakes are highly venomous marine reptiles living in the tropical Indo-Pacific.
Basically, snakes that live underwater, how cool is that?
There are 57 different sea snake species, and many are much more dangerous than a cobra.
However, it turns out they are very mild-mannered reptiles and have to be significantly harassed
to bite.
That does not mean you should go handle them.
When they come out of the water to lay eggs they are much more aggressive because they
are vulnerable, so stay away from them on a beach.
Now I’ll bet you are wondering….where is the shark?
Hey guess what…statistically sharks are not that dangerous.
You are unlikely to see a shark in the ocean, and when you do, chances are you will scare
it away.
Can sharks be dangerous?
Of course.
But 2019 is the International Year of the Shark because sharks are cool, and they are
definitely NOT on my most dangerous species list.
I’ll take a shark over a box jelly any day.
Thanks for watching Blue World Academy and don’t forget to subscribe!
If you are new, check out my underwater adventures on Jonathan Bird’s Blue World and learn
all about sharks with Shark Academy!