An Australian teenager nearly died when he was bitten by a poisonous blue-ringed octopus hiding in a shell he scooped up from the ocean to show his nephew.
Jacob Eggington, 18, was swimming and looking for seashells at Shoalwater Beach in Perth when an octopus – which carries extremely deadly venom – bit him.
The teenager didn’t realize he’d been bitten until after he showed the shell to his nephew, catching a sign of the deadly animal before it could harm him too.
“As soon as he saw the squid, he screamed loudly. I’m holding the baby,” his brother, Joshua, told 7 News Perth. “That’s one of the more traumatic thoughts, of what could have happened.”
After seeing the creature, which was no bigger than the palm of his hand, Eggington examined his leg and found a painless bite – a move that saved his life as it prompted him to seek immediate medical attention.
The blue-ringed octopus carries a deadly toxin for which there is no cure, and it took doctors six hours to stabilize the teenager after he was carried on a stretcher off the beach. A bite from one of these creatures can kill a person within 30 minutes, according to experts.
Jacob Eggington, 18, was swimming and looking for seashells at Shoalwater Beach in Perth, Australia, when a deadly blue-ringed octopus bit him. 7News Octopus poison can kill a person in 30 minutes. 7News
The animal is often seen on Perth beaches.
Experts recommend that beachgoers avoid the water without reef shoes and stay alert, as the creatures are good at camouflage.
Octopuses use their venom to kill their prey to eat.
They live in the Pacific and Indian oceans, usually near coral reefs, according to the National Museum of History.
The creature only shows its blue ring when it feels threatened. ullstein bild via Getty Images
The creature only shows its blue ring when it feels threatened.
Blue-ringed squid are small, less than 5 inches long.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
