Swimming During Stinger Season in Cairns, Australia
In the coastal regions of Cairns and northern Queensland, Australia, tourists often plunge into the sparkling, clear ocean waters despite prominent seasonal warnings about the dangers of “stinger season,” which runs from November through May. During this period, the waters are inhabited by highly venomous box jellyfish, whose nearly transparent tentacles deliver toxins capable of inducing cardiac arrest and heart failure within minutes. Despite publicized alerts, some swimmers overlook safety measures such as wearing protective full-body suits or swimming within designated netted enclosures. This disregard has, in tragic instances, led to fatal stings and preventable loss of life.
Cairns’ venomous invaders strike in clear waters, but Phuket’s shores claim lives after dark. The next page plunges into forbidden night swims, ignoring no-swim flags and common sense for midnight dips that end in tragedy…
