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I grew up on the East Coast of the United States. MD and FL to be specific. Going to the beach was a regular thing in our household, whether it was the Chesapeake Bay or the Atlantic Ocean somewhere in West Palm Beach. My grandad has a house on the actual bay. Grew up spending every family gathering there. The adults would visit/catch up, and us kids would be in the water. I was NEVER scared of the water.
Then, as a young adult, Im sitting at an inprocessing for a base in Okinawa, Japan, and the briefer is going over local hazards in the region.
I had never heard of the Blue Ringed Octopus before.
And from that moment on, I became terrified of things in the ocean.
My husband always laughs about that story because its rare that they even make it into the waters around Oki, but that genuinely really was the moment that my brain was like “Omg, you have to worry about more than sharks in the ocean.”
The ocean is beyond beautiful. Spent some time on the shores of NC and VA…
Started studying marine biology due to the oceans vast amount of mystery…Now it’s “The ocean is beyond beautiful and just as deadly.”
The ocean is indeed beyond beautiful. I’m not a marine biologist, but I went to Jamaica for my honeymoon and truly appreciated it there. A lot of my time was spent just … Admiring the water.
I remember a Jamaican local commenting that she’d seen the ocean around the USA in movies and wouldn’t swim in the ocean around the country based on that.
Also, I got punched in the face by a fish while I was down there.
Beautiful, though.
I love the Effing petting zoo!
The bite actually doesn’t kill you, it just shuts down your nervous system so you can’t breath.
People if given cpr immediately (kind of need someone to know it’s what bit you) till it wears off / get on a ventilator will live.
I remember reading about someone who survived. They got but, and a team started doing cpr. The only issue was his eyes were open the entire time on a hot sunny day. So he was blind after the damage the hot sun did.
So what you’re saying is I should take a date to see the blue ring octopus. Then I should get stung and tell them to give me CPR for a few hours or I’ll die.
The bite actually doesn’t kill you, it just shuts down your nervous system so you can’t breath.
I feel that’s like saying “getting mauled by a bear doesn’t kill you, it just causes major lacerations so all your blood leaks out”. Technically sure, but it seems like a bit of a pedantic distinction…
You’re not totally wrong but some things are not so easily treated as with rescue breathing. This is the same problem with any paralytic agent (e.g. botulism) is that the mechanism of death is suffocation since you can’t breathe. But from a rescue standpoint its really easy to breathe for someone whereas its not easy to stop multiple lacerations leading to exanguination and I think that is the point they were making is that this could be a survivable event if a rescuer is nearby.
Reminds me of people who insisted COVID didn’t kill anyone because it was the symptoms that actually killed people
Getting bit by a venomous snake in Australia and you’re blood starts to disassemble itself. The only counter is antivenom or die. Your blood breaking down is what kills you. And there is no way to separate the bite from that.
Being able to counter the venom in such a simple way is what makes it different. You can logically break it down into steps that are separable.
Hmm, does one also not feel pain during such event? Also what happens in your head during it? Are you conscious or it also just shuts down your brain as whole?
Breathing - famous for being optional for those that would like to live.
Yes, there have only been around 3 people killed by them (largely because they’re shy, aquatic, and somewhat uncommon), and intervention can be made to stop them from killing you, but they’re one of the most toxic animals on the planet, and are unquestionably deadly.
Blind as permanently blind?
Correct, nothing can move, not your lungs, not your eye lids, nothing. So he went very blind from staring at the sun for 30mins straight while people did cpr until ambulance arrived
What about the heart?
Thus the CPR, I would imagine.
Does it just automatically restart beating after effects wear off?
I would personally imagine that you may need to be defibrillated at some point but otherwise probably yes? The toxins are causing the paralysis and people do survive it so I can only imagine that the heart takes back over after a certain amount of effort. Otherwise, I don’t actually know.
Yep.
They couldn’t close their eyelids.
Better blind than dead.
Too bad no one had a shirt or something they could’ve covered their eyes with…
Hindsight is 20:20. It may seem obvious when you’re sitting here reading about it, but if my buddy was suddenly paralyzed I’d probably be too preoccupied with keeping his blood moving and oxygenated to have the extra processing power to think about whether his eyes needed to be closed.
Good god Im dead just watching this
Blue-ringed octopuses are among the world’s most venomous marine animals, carrying enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes.
Petting a blue ring octopus could definitely be a once in a lifetime event!
Well they were planning on Effing it, so maybe they were wearing “protection”.
If not friend, why friend shaped?
You see, it’s not.
Has the “swim with the box jellies” experience reopened since the accident… and the other accident… and those 3 accidents that happened before that?
I didn’t read ‘Effing SC’. I was confused as to why they’re cursing the petting zoo.
Maybe because they’re trying to get people to pet a blue-ringed octopus?
Once in a lifetime. Probably the crowning achievement
I mean I’d love to see one just maybe not handle one. Also, just how bitey are they really
Ohh. Effing is a place!
I always thought… Never mind.
Oh no.
I honestly want to know the story behind this picture. Maybe their venom glands can be removed? A quick Wikipedia search showed that this one isn’t brightening up its blue rings like they do when they feel threatened, and that generally you can survive if a respirator is available, but that doesn’t seem like enough to risk holding one…
There’s also a video of a woman holding one not realizing what it is. "my first reaction was just “pick it up”
Meanwhile, in Mexico, an octopus swam near my brother and I and we both got the fuck out the water like it had turned to lava lmao
I honestly want to know the story behind this picture.
Take it with a grain of salt: I remember reading years ago that the person handling the octopus was suffering from degenerative disease, and losing his fight against liver cancer. So, he wasn’t fazed about the prospect of a fatal bite.
If I remember correctly, the guy holding the octopus had terminal cancer and was traveling around doing dangerous things before he died.
So we’re upvoting ads now?
Once in a lifetime… As in you can do it once.
