Pacific ocean wasp - how an unknown jellyfish killed Australians and no one could even find it (6 photos)

It is known that the ocean is far from being as well explored as land surface. And sometimes in big water there is much more amazing unusual and even scary. So it is with today's our hero - the true "demon", which at the very beginning, when people only encountered him, was called the "sea wasp."





And it all started in the 19th century. So, in Cleveland, where there are many beaches, people suddenly began to die. And most often - children, moreover they died, alas, instantly. Physicians, on the other hand, do not understood what was the matter, and put the usual cardiac arrest.



However, professional divers said that they encountered something similar: a sudden sharp, sharp and practically intolerable pain. The man suddenly could not breathe, and the heart accelerated as if ready to jump out of the chest. At the same time, this lasted not a day or even two, but about half a week. And no one couldn't tell what was going on.

There were no reptiles, no fish, absolutely no one: at the moment At the beginning of the pain, a person saw only crystal clear water nearby. Those who already lived here for a long time, they quickly began to say that something was going on in the water something is wrong. And then the invisible demon was given the nickname "sea wasp." BUT the natives of Australia even said that they were to blame for all the deaths otherworldly forces.





Scientists tried to find a rational explanation, but for a very long time it didn't work. All local living creatures that were found researchers, was not as toxic as the mysterious demon.

Everything more or less cleared up in 1955. Then a five year old the boy was splashing in shallow water, but at some point the baby began scream a lot. Parents, of course, immediately rushed to him. But did not have time - the boy was dead.

The incident was quickly learned by a doctor and biologist from the coast of Australia. Hugo Flecker. He told the rescuers to take the nets and catch all the inhabitants waters that float off the coast. And then it became clear who really actually guilty of so many deaths - the "demon of Irukandji" turned out to be a jellyfish.



Flecker attributed this strange creature to a species of box jellyfish, which called "box jellyfish". They have a dome in the shape of the same boxes, from each corner of which hang tufts of tentacles. This representative of jelly fish turned out to be completely transparent in the water, then there it was completely invisible to the poor fellows who became its victims.

Box jellyfish are the most dangerous representatives of their species, and The sea wasp belongs to the species Hirenex, that is, the "hands of death." They are - the only jellyfish that hunt by sight. They have 24 in total eyes, and they are divided into four groups - one in each of the four dome corners. Their eyesight is similar to a fisheye lens.



At the same time, the animal has neither a brain nor even nerve nodes. However, she sees well, but does not distinguish between white, but wonderful sees black. From red, in turn, she tends to sail away like can be further. So now there are red nets on the beaches of Cleveland.

However, thinking that jellyfish are safe is not worth it. They are incredible agile, and if they see the victim, they swim straight to it. Tentacles (and there are 60 of them) this time they form a deadly web under the dome, which is wide is 4.5 m. After contact with the victim, millions of nematodes dig into the body of a person or fish.

In general, Irukandji is the most terrible jellyfish on the planet. And among Animals also have no equal. The strength of the poison is about the same as that of blue-ringed octopus. Her venom can kill up to 60 people at once. AT it has both paralyzing tetramin, and affecting blood vessels and turning off light thalassin, as well as hypnotoxin, which disables the nervous system.

After touching this creature, a person either dies immediately, or suffers in pain for several days. But the second option is only accidental contact.

However, there is a plus. Although it seems that the creature can take you kill, you are not his target, and most likely the jellyfish will hit you by accident. On the they are generally rare guests in shallow water - they are usually carried there by the tides. To word, if you wonder how she eats - through the web sucks into dome, and there the fish is digested.



These creatures live exclusively in tropical and subtropical