6 ms·

Tiny 'meat-loving' marine creatures 'eat' teenager's legs at Melbourne beach

45 points by chadcmulligan 9y ago

TheSwordsman 9y ago
And this is what nightmares are made of...
forkLding 9y ago
Sea lice are parasitic creatures, although feeding on tissue and blood, havent seen them outright attacking and feeding
santaclaus 9y ago
> The next night, Kanizay went back to the beach with a pool net full of meat and captured the creatures he said were responsible. That is probably the most Australian thing I have ever heard...
- DrScump 9y ago
  "Throw another barbie on the shrimp!" ??
  - chossenger 9y ago
    Don't do that, you'll mush the shrimp
dmh2000 9y ago
add another Australian monster to the list
proee 9y ago
He's lucky he only soaked his legs and didn't take a full on swim.
codezero 9y ago
Is the only evidence that it was sea lice that when they went back with meat, sea lice ate it? That seems pretty thin, but I guess it's better than nothing.
- NamTaf 9y ago
  Why? It's unlikely that you'd find multiple parasites like that given it's a novel-enough story to make news in the first place. Even in Australia, this doesn't normally happen when you wade in to the ocean. Moreover, it's likely that certain tides had washed a population of them into the beach (Melbourne's beaches are in a huge bay - Port Phillip bay - and the marker [1] indicates Brighton where he swam) so they're unlikely to disperse too quickly until a tide/weather change shifts them back out or disperses them throughout the bay. Additionally, if I recall correctly there's been wind/rain across Melbourne from the south-east over the last weekend, which would also wash them towards the Brighton side of the bay. [1]: https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k
- wavefunction 9y ago
  It sounded like they haven't identified the creatures yet. Another media article that could go just a bit farther and provide so much more...
ams6110 9y ago
It's always Australia with the bizarre life forms. Giant spiders, other spiders and tiny jellyfish that are lethally poisonous, and now flesh-eating marine invertibrates.
- jimmux 9y ago
  We're normally pretty safe from the beasties down here in Melbourne. This case is really strange, especially considering how many people are in the water here every day. It's not like up north, with jellyfish nets, crocs, etc. Then again, last year I was knee-deep a couple of beaches over from this incident and an unidentified creature (probably stingray) slashed my foot from heel to toe - so maybe we are a bit conditioned.
5706906c06c 9y ago
First, what the actual fuck? Second, am I missing something, how did they stop the bleeding? I feel like the story just stopped with no further explanation?
- R_haterade 9y ago
  I imagine his body stopped it via a natural clotting mechanism. All that was required was removal of the lice. This is absolute nightmare fuel, though.
jumpkickhit 9y ago
Hopefully this isn't a sign that warmer ocean temperatures and higher levels of dissolved CO2 are making the oceans more hospitable for creatures like this.
zizee 9y ago
With only one person affected, it sounds like this person had an odd reaction of some sort, rather than some super flesh-eating monster being on the loose. The way they describe the wounds continuing to bleed profusely reminds me of leech bites, which even once the leech is removed, will continue to bleed because of the bite shape and anti-coagulation agents the leech has in its saliva.
- mnl 9y ago
  Actually they look like rather voracious flesh-eating/bloodsucking tiny shrimps: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-brighton-beach-sea-lice-enjoying-a-meal-of-fresh-meat-20170806-gxql3d.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-bri...
Avernar 9y ago
Is there anything on that continent that's not trying to kill you?
chadcmulligan 9y ago
A solution has been found http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-at-brighton-beach-what-really-ate-sam-and-why-20170807-gxqsab.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-at-bright...
ascorbic 9y ago
Perhaps one day Australia will be safe for human habitation.

45 points by chadcmulligan 9y ago

TheSwordsman 9y ago

And this is what nightmares are made of...

forkLding 9y ago

Sea lice are parasitic creatures, although feeding on tissue and blood, havent seen them outright attacking and feeding

santaclaus 9y ago

> The next night, Kanizay went back to the beach with a pool net full of meat and captured the creatures he said were responsible. That is probably the most Australian thing I have ever heard...

DrScump 9y ago
"Throw another barbie on the shrimp!" ??
- chossenger 9y ago
  Don't do that, you'll mush the shrimp

dmh2000 9y ago

add another Australian monster to the list

proee 9y ago

He's lucky he only soaked his legs and didn't take a full on swim.

codezero 9y ago

Is the only evidence that it was sea lice that when they went back with meat, sea lice ate it? That seems pretty thin, but I guess it's better than nothing.

NamTaf 9y ago
Why? It's unlikely that you'd find multiple parasites like that given it's a novel-enough story to make news in the first place. Even in Australia, this doesn't normally happen when you wade in to the ocean. Moreover, it's likely that certain tides had washed a population of them into the beach (Melbourne's beaches are in a huge bay - Port Phillip bay - and the marker [1] indicates Brighton where he swam) so they're unlikely to disperse too quickly until a tide/weather change shifts them back out or disperses them throughout the bay. Additionally, if I recall correctly there's been wind/rain across Melbourne from the south-east over the last weekend, which would also wash them towards the Brighton side of the bay. [1]: https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k
wavefunction 9y ago
It sounded like they haven't identified the creatures yet. Another media article that could go just a bit farther and provide so much more...

ams6110 9y ago

It's always Australia with the bizarre life forms. Giant spiders, other spiders and tiny jellyfish that are lethally poisonous, and now flesh-eating marine invertibrates.

jimmux 9y ago
We're normally pretty safe from the beasties down here in Melbourne. This case is really strange, especially considering how many people are in the water here every day. It's not like up north, with jellyfish nets, crocs, etc. Then again, last year I was knee-deep a couple of beaches over from this incident and an unidentified creature (probably stingray) slashed my foot from heel to toe - so maybe we are a bit conditioned.

5706906c06c 9y ago

First, what the actual fuck? Second, am I missing something, how did they stop the bleeding? I feel like the story just stopped with no further explanation?

R_haterade 9y ago
I imagine his body stopped it via a natural clotting mechanism. All that was required was removal of the lice. This is absolute nightmare fuel, though.

jumpkickhit 9y ago

Hopefully this isn't a sign that warmer ocean temperatures and higher levels of dissolved CO2 are making the oceans more hospitable for creatures like this.

zizee 9y ago

With only one person affected, it sounds like this person had an odd reaction of some sort, rather than some super flesh-eating monster being on the loose. The way they describe the wounds continuing to bleed profusely reminds me of leech bites, which even once the leech is removed, will continue to bleed because of the bite shape and anti-coagulation agents the leech has in its saliva.

mnl 9y ago
Actually they look like rather voracious flesh-eating/bloodsucking tiny shrimps: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-brighton-beach-sea-lice-enjoying-a-meal-of-fresh-meat-20170806-gxql3d.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-bri...

Avernar 9y ago

Is there anything on that continent that's not trying to kill you?

chadcmulligan 9y ago

A solution has been found http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-at-brighton-beach-what-really-ate-sam-and-why-20170807-gxqsab.html http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-at-bright...

ascorbic 9y ago

Perhaps one day Australia will be safe for human habitation.