Blue-ringed octopus in Blackwattle Bay, Sydney almost stings sausage dog after hiding inside ball
Dog walk nearly ends in blue-ringed octopus disaster after owner thought he was lucky to spot a free toy floating in the ocean
- Jesse Donnison found a deadly octopus inside a ball
- His dog Otto began to chase the deadly creature.
- Blue-ringed octopus venom can kill instantly
A relaxing stroll along Sydney Harbor could have turned deadly for a man and his dog after a run-in with one of Australia’s most venomous sea creatures.
Jesse Donnison and his dog Otto were walking along Blackwattle Bay in the Glebe when he spotted a dog toy floating in the water.
But Mr. Donnison got more than he bargained for when he picked up the ball, thinking he was going to win a free toy for his dog.
“I thought it had algae or something, but then a tentacle came out,” he told NCA NewsWire.
He initially “freaked out” and dropped the ball, however he had a heart-stopping moment as Otto chased after the toy and the creature.
Mr. Donnison (left) says he’s thankful his dog Otto (right) wasn’t bitten by the octopus.
Jesse Donnison and his dog Otto were walking along Blackwattle Bay in the Glebe when they spotted a blue-ringed octopus (pictured) inside a ball.
“As soon as that tentacle came out, I knew it could only be a creature,” he said of the blue-ringed octopus.
I dropped it pretty quickly, more than anything I was worried about the dog. Otto tried to get to the ball immediately.
“Luckily I even looked and didn’t throw it away for the dog to go and get it.”
Blue-ringed octopuses are among the most venomous marine animals in the world, having enough venom to kill 26 adult humans in a matter of minutes.
Due to their size, their bites are tiny and often painless, and their venom can cause respiratory arrest, heart failure, paralysis, blindness, and eventually death by suffocation.
‘I wasn’t so much scared as surprised. He was expecting kelp, so it was a surprise,” Donnison said.
He said the octopus started out as green algae but quickly began to show its blue rings.
The blue-ringed octopus is generally found in shallow water, tide pools, and coral reefs.
Although they are poisonous, octopuses are relatively tame, only displaying their bright blue rings and becoming dangerous to humans when they believe they are being threatened.
Just a few weeks ago, a woman was lucky enough to escape with her life after being bitten multiple times by the creature.
The woman, in her 30s, was bitten in the stomach on a Thursday afternoon around 2:45 p.m. at Chinamans Beach in Mosman.
‘This woman was swimming and picked up a shell. She contained a small blue-ringed octopus which fell off her and she bit her twice in the stomach,” said New South Wales Ambulance Inspector Christian Holmes.
“The patient was experiencing some abdominal pain around the bite site, so paramedics applied pressure and a cold pack before taking her to hospital to be monitored and treated for other symptoms.”
Mr. Donnison said the woman was in the foreground when it came to the creature.
“I stayed right away after hearing what happened to him. I knew there were blue-ringed octopuses, but not at Black Wattle, near Glebe,” she said.
The blue-ringed octopus is found off the east coast of Australia and around Sydney Harbour.