Horror as a swimmer is bitten by a deadly blue-ringed octopus on Chinaman beach in Mosman
Horror as swimmer is bitten by a deadly blue-ringed octopus with a venom strong enough to kill 20 people
A woman was bitten by a deadly blue-ringed octopus on a popular Sydney beach.
The woman, in her 30s, was bitten in the stomach at about 2:45 pm today at Chinaman’s Beach in Mosman.
The bite of a blue-ringed octopus has a venom strong enough to kill more than 20 people, despite the sea creature being small, usually measuring about 8 cm in length.
The poison, called tetrodotoxin, causes paralysis and slows the body to a point where they can’t breathe and don’t get enough oxygen.
There is no antidote to tetrodotoxin, with bite victims only surviving the venom on a ventilator until its effects wear off.
While there is a serious danger, there are only a handful of confirmed victims of a blue-ringed bite, as the creatures hide in small crevices rather than attack.
More to come