'Blue dragon' alert: Australian beachgoers warned about stinging sea slug washing up on shores
Australian stinging sea creature called blue dragon
Australian beachgoers are being warned about a water creature that is beautiful to look atbut may inflict a painful sting. This month, dozens of blue dragons, also known as glaucus atlanticus, have been washing up on beaches in New South Wales and Queensland, prompting an ocean expert to caution beachgoers about the risks the vividly coloured sea slugs can pose, as reported by 7news.
Most beachgoers do not see the blue dragons until they have washed up on the shore, according to experts who spoke to 7news.However, swimmers may feel their presence in the water because of how painful their stings can be. That's because the animal stores its prey's stinging cells, known as cnidocytes, in sacs and feeds onspecies like the poisonous Portuguese man of war, according to David Hicks, dean of the University of Texas School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences.
Marine biology enthusiast Julian Obayd hasbeen documenting his experience of finding and releasing the blue-coloured se slugson beaches along the Gold Coast.
Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.
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“It hurts like hell,” he says in one TikTok clip in which he shows the after-effects of being stung by several blue dragons when trying to release them back into the water.The blue dragons then will employ those deadly cells to defend themselves against attackers, sometimes with people getting caught in the crossfire.
The pain felt after being stung is comparable to that of a man-of-war (a marinehydrozoanfound in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean)sting, which can be extremely excruciating and, in rare cases, life-threatening.
The temperate and tropical seas of the Pacific, the Atlantic, and Indian oceans are abode to these colourfulsea slugs. As per Australian Geographic reports, the species areprimarily found in Australia along the south-east coast of the continent, from southern Queensland to northern Victoria.
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