Summer is quickly coming. It is time for the Sunshine State to live up to its name as vast myriads of natives and tourists hit the beautiful open waters of Florida’s Atlantic Coast for tenacious tans and some summer fun in the sun. The Florida Coast and Puerto Rico annually attract nearly three million tourists, according to editorialist Brian Smith. This means that if any sea creatures decide to pay a visit, they will have more than enough people running in terror, or struck in awe, to quickly make a name for itself on the local news.
Besides the beautiful beaches and sheer sunshine, there is an impending threat quickly engulfing the coast and Keys, creating a scene for chaos and danger: the Box Jellyfish. Box jellies have spread from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic side of the peninsula, according to Suzanne Hammer, M.D., a Honolulu physician who works with Yanagihara on mapping outbreaks and educating the public.
Jellyfish are heavily overlooked and underestimated. “All box jellies have the potential to be lethal,” said Angel Yanagihara, Ph.D., a marine biochemist with the University of Hawaii and also recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on the creatures. When it comes to the Box Jellyfish, there is a prevalent misconception that it is brainless. However, the case is quite the contrary. Rather than floating passively and waiting for small fish and invertebrates to blindly bash into their tendrils, Box Jellies actively hunt their prey by propelling themselves through the water, opening and shutting their bells.
Regular jellyfish have simple pigment-cup ocelli, which only allow them to distinguish between light and dark, not including the grand gift of a brain. Unlike them, Boxies are born with numerous abilities that make them a lethal threat to oblivious ocean visitors. One of the most significant distinctions that sets them apart from any average jellyfish is the fact that Boxies (their notorious nickname) have four operating brains that work together to search for food in different parts of the ocean. Additinally, they have 24 eyes that would give them almost 360°of visibility. Their heightened senses allow them to see different shades of color as well. They are also able to survive in the most polluted water environments and can comfortably dwell in depths of 10,000 meters. They naturally have long tentacles (about 6 to 8 feet in length) that can easily decapacitate, if not kill, a human victim in more or less than 180 seconds. Interestingly enough, the venom withheld in the tendrils of Boxies remains active, even after death. This means that even contact with a dead Box Jellyfish can pose a fatal threat.
When it comes to being stung, treatment for a Box Jellyfish sting requires unconventional methods. If treated improperly, the triggered effects can quicken death. The tentacles of Box Jellyfish bristle with millions of hair-trigger, microscopic capsules called nematocysts. Once fired, each explosively releases a tubule that delivers venom deep into the skin. Cold, fresh water— the common treatment for regular jellyfish stings— causes even more of the nematocysts to explode. Box jellyfish stings already cause a person’s epinephrine levels to spike dramatically. When doctors inject an extra jolt of the hormone, which is routinely done to treat victims of regular jellyfish stings who felt it necessary to take refuge in the safety of a hospital, they effectively cause an overdose. This worsens the victim’s breathing complications, sends blood pressure soaring, and potentially induces a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. In addition to severe headaches, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, and pulmonary edema, an individual may experience anxiety so powerful that some victims have reportedly begged their doctors to kill them. Doctors are unaware why some stings are more hazardous, although theories claim it may be because the sting is injected deeper.
Depending on the species of Box Jellyfish, one’s odds of survival are better if they have been bitten by the lethal black widow spider, one of the most venomous spiders in the world, claims Yanagihara. Consider Chironex fleckeri, a basketball-size Box Jelly found in the Indo-Pacific that has dozens of six foot-long, ribbon-like tentacles. Its nickname is Sea Wasp; if one of those tentacles, even slightly, brushes against one’s body, one may die before they reach the beach.
Ultimately, the 43 known species of Box Jellyfish cause more deaths and serious injuries than sharks, sea snakes, and stingrays combined. Sharks may be Kings of the Sea and provoke great fear, however, if one considers the statistical data of accumulated deaths and inflicted misery in innocent victims, Box Jellyfish surely pose a substantially greater hazard. So, whenever paying a visit to the beach, heed the purple flags— they signal dangerous marine life.