It makes sense that, as a wildlife writer, I’ve seen a lot of wildlife. But I have to admit, while I love watching all creatures, I especially love spotting something that stops me in my tracks and makes me ask, “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”
And that’s exactly what happened as I encountered a particularly box-shaped jellyfish in Wollongong Harbour a few days ago.
Finding myself in the area, I made a quick detour so that I could peer down into the depths between the gently rocking moored boats. The heavy marine ropes usually have small schools of fish nibbling away at them, stingrays sometimes swim up against the algae-covered walls and I’ve even spotted a penguin doing a quick spot of fishing inside the harbour. But what I was not expecting to see was a box jellyfish this far south!
When we hear the common name Box Jellyfish, what first comes to mind is the infamous, highly venomous box jellyfish that inhabit the warm, tropical waters of northern Australia and that has killed 14 people in the Northern Territory since 1975.
So when I saw not one but three box-shaped jellyfish swimming around in Wollongong I definitely did a double take. Unlike the box jellies up north (Chironex fleckeri) that have up to 60 nematocyst-covered tentacles trailing behind them, these jellies had only four – one from each corner – and the tentacles were actually a pretty dusty pink colour.
Turns out these jellies, while a member of the box jellyfish family, are the much less dangerous and more common Jimble Jellyfish (Carybdea rastoni). Make no mistake, these jellies can still pack a painful punch but they’re not deadly like their northern counterpart.
Jimbles usually spend most of the day near the sea floor, coming up to the surface to hunt for fish, zooplankton and larvae during the night. So it felt particularly special not only to spot them for the first time but also to get to see them swimming about strongly, their bell pulsing as they swiftly changed direction, the tentacles waving behind them.
They’re more common in Spring and Summer so they might start popping up near you. If stung, follow the advice from Surf Life Saving Australia, found here.
