evilborris Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Went for a spin down at Figtree Bridge last night,no fish to speak of,but a big surprise .A blue ringed octopus.Yep , a good old deadly as Blue Ringer.For the uninitiated, these are a small,cute looking creature,about the size of the baby occy's sold for barbie bait at fish shops.Only difference is that the ringers have a toxic bite.About as toxic as a brown snake or a funnel web spider.SO BEWARE .These little critters kill. Quickly AND PAINFULLY!!!!!!!!!!!From what I'm told you may only have half an hour after the bite until you die of a heart attack.KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN GUYS,FOR YOUR OWN SAKE.Also watch your kids closely near the water as these things are cute and those blue spots look so beautiful to young ones,they'll almost always try to play with them,and they only have 15 to 20 mins tops.It'd be a shame to lose someone to one of these,especially someone who doesn't realise how deadly they are.Put it this way .I got my finger within about 1 inch of the thing before I realised it wasn't a bit of weed or a rock .I only just saw a faint blue line on the suckers head in the light of my head torch,then the alarm bells went off .Dropped him into the bucket and thankfully he spat the hook,keeping the yabby[he ate it too].Photos coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigtempo Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 jeeezzz thanks for the heads up i spose with the increse of better water conditions and fish stocks on the increase it only natural for these things to be more prevalent as well craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I knew nothing about these guys when I was 14 I was swiming at Bronte rock pool and spoted one at low tide, been european we just grab these guys and when I tried to grab him he strated flashing blue, I thought this was not right, I would try again and it would flash bright blue again an I would pull my hand away, telling my self you woos! Just grab it, done it before, but for some reason my instinct kept telling DONT TOUCH, thank God I didnt in the end I just left him be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHILLFACTOR Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Got to watch for them when you are prawning also..... Coops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langa Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Hi my brother and I caught one on the rocks at Blue Lagoon when we were kids many years ago, we kept it in a bucket for a day and took great delight in teasing it with our hands to make the intense blue rings. A couple of weeks later a soldier died from the bite of one at Shelly Beach, this was when people first became aware of the Blue Rings deadly capabilities. My brother and I were blown away when we realised how close we must have come to being victims, good thing my mother made us let it go! Cheers Langa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelrdoyle@gmail.com Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Should also be aware that there is no anti-venom for the blue-ringed octopus. It's a venom that paralyses you - stops you from breathing, and then you die. However - it is not necessarily fatal. If someone gets bitten, get them to a hospital immediately. If they stop breathing, perform CPR. And keep performing it. Once they get to a hospital, they will be hooked up to a breathing machine and the poisson will work itself out of the body. Generally within 24 hours the person will wake up and breath again on their own. I've heard of a case where a bloke was stung in a remote location, and his mates did CPR for 24hours until he woke up again. He lived. Anyway - moral of the story, know CPR, get them to the hospital, and never give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasty Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 That soldier died because he put the blue ringed octopus on his shoulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 That soldier died because he put the blue ringed octopus on his shoulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 hmmm looks like they may be more active just now - a buddy found this one when yakking in Hen & Chicken Bay last week!! He took this good pic of it! They are tiny but pack a HUGE VENOM bite! I grew up sticking my hands into every nook & cranny of the rock pools on the Mona Vale Pool ledge - it is amazing I never got a hit! The Northern Beaches are famous for them (also funnelweb spiders too, which could also be on the prowl after all this rain!) Walking around Lake Macquarie some years ago, I found a coca cola can in the shallows, so picked it up to put it in the bin. It felt heavy, so I shook the wet sand out of it ...... out came a family of Blue Ringed Occies!!! The perfect 'hidey hole' for them to live in! So, Raiders, educate your kids - print this pic off, in colour & show it to everyone in your family who is likely to be in the water prawning, yakking, walking - they love hiding in small, dark places (under the ledges of rock pools.) Don't Mess with them!! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the one that got away Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Was fishing iron cove once last month, i was in about knee high water casting jerkshads for flatties i turn around to look into the water incase of jelly fish then i see a blue ringed octurpus swim straight past my leg I was shitting my self, it just touched my leg with a tenticle as it swam past! Oh well im still alive. Cheers, Zac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abs13 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 thanks for the heads up, will keep a look out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasty Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I was up at the Central Coast floods a couple of years ago and we found one in a puddle by the side of the road after the flood water had receded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendo B Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hi my brother and I caught one on the rocks at Blue Lagoon when we were kids many years ago, we kept it in a bucket for a day and took great delight in teasing it with our hands to make the intense blue rings. A couple of weeks later a soldier died from the bite of one at Shelly Beach, this was when people first became aware of the Blue Rings deadly capabilities. My brother and I were blown away when we realised how close we must have come to being victims, good thing my mother made us let it go! Cheers Langa hay langa what year was it at blue lagoon we went there every chrissy for 15 years as kids last year was 1992 what a great time we had every year there best time ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiro Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 excuse my stupidity, but does it actually have to 'bite' you to inject the venom, or if you just touch it?? im curious as to how it gets the venom inside you?? is it barbed, fanged etc...?? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilborris Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 excuse my stupidity, but does it actually have to 'bite' you to inject the venom, or if you just touch it?? im curious as to how it gets the venom inside you?? is it barbed, fanged etc...?? cheers as with most occys they have a beak in the centre of their head and they bite with this and inject the venom at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now