A young Australian almost lost his life after collecting some seashells, unaware that one of the world’s most poisonous animals was hiding there: a blue-ringed octopus.
Jacob Eggington was swimming and searching for shells at Shoalwater Beach in the city of Perth when he was surprised by a poisonous octopus.
However, this 18-year-old young man only realized that he had been bitten by this animal when he reached the shore to show the shells to his niece.
“As soon as he saw the octopus, he screamed very loudly. I grabbed the baby. “This is one of the most traumatic thoughts of what could have happened,” his brother Joshua told the portal. 7News.
That’s when they discovered that the blue-ringed octopus was inside one of the shells.
Searching for shells on the beach almost cost a Perth teenager his life. The 18-year-old didn’t know he had picked up a deadly sea creature. @JerrieDemasi #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/rvDwW94mWj
— 7NEWS Perth (@7NewsPerth) December 4, 2023
The worst thing is that Jacob decided to examine his body and discovered that he had been bitten by the animal; So he had to rush to a hospital.
Doctors at Rockingham General Hospital monitored his health for more than six hours for side effects of the poison.
One of the most poisonous animals in the world
The blue-ringed octopus is one of the most venomous species in the world and lives in the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
This small mollusc usually stands out for its bright blue and yellow colors, with rings all over its body.
However, this animal has a powerful neurotoxin that can kill several people in just a few minutes.
This poison is so deadly that it can paralyze a person within minutes, depriving their body of oxygen and, in the most severe cases, causing death.
Most stings are not painful and that is why many people do not realize that they have been attacked by this octopus.
Experts from the Ocean Conservancy explained all this Octopuses are poisonous; But this specimen has characteristics that make it one of the most dangerous animals in the world.
“Its poison is 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide, and this golf ball-sized potency contains enough poison to kill 26 people in minutes,” they said.
What are the symptoms of its poison?
The main symptoms are manifested by muscle numbness, nausea, loss of vision and impairment of the person’s psychomotor skills.
But over time, the poison spreads throughout the body, causing muscle paralysis that can cause respiratory failure.
Currently there is no antidote to treat this poison and therefore the bite victims can only be saved through artificial respiration.
This isn’t the first time stories have come to light about people handling these blue-ringed octopuses on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
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