A soothing walk along Sydney Harbor could have proved fatal to at least one man and his dog after brushing against one among Australia’s most venomous sea creatures.
Jesse Donnison and his dog Otto were walking along Blackwattle Bay in Glebe once they spotted an expensive dog toy floating within the water.
But Mr Donnison got greater than he bargained for when he picked up the ball considering he was going to get a free toy for his dog.
“I just thought it had algae on it or something, but then a tentacle popped out,” he told NCA NewsWire.
At first he “got scared” and dropped the ball, nonetheless, he had a breathtaking moment when Otto ran after the toy and the creature.
“As soon as this tentacle appeared, I knew it could only be one creature,” he said of the blue-ringed octopus.
“I dropped it pretty quickly, greater than the rest I used to be fearful in regards to the dog. Otto immediately tried to get to the ball.
“Fortunately, I even looked and didn’t just drop it for the dog to go and grab.”
Blue-ringed octopuses are amongst probably the most venomous marine animals on this planet, carrying enough venom to kill 26 adult humans in minutes.
As a result of their size, their bites are small and often painless, and their venom may cause respiratory arrest, heart failure, paralysis, blindness, and eventually death by suffocation.
“I wasn’t a lot scared as surprised. I used to be expecting seaweed, so it was a little bit of a surprise,” said Mt Donnison.
He said the octopus initially had a seaweed green color, but soon began to point out its blue rings.
Although venomous, octopuses are relatively docile, showing off their shiny blue rings, and only develop into dangerous to humans once they imagine they’re threatened.
Just a few weeks ago, a woman was lucky enough to get away along with her life after being bitten multiple times by this creature.
A girl in her 30s was bitten within the stomach on Thursday afternoon at around 2:45 p.m. at Chinamans Beach in Mosman.
“This woman was swimming and picked up a shell. It contained a small blue-ringed octopus that fell out and bit her twice within the stomach, said NSW Ambulance Inspector Christian Holmes.
“The patient had abdominal pain across the bite site, so paramedics applied compression and a cold compress before taking her to the hospital to be monitored and treated for further symptoms.”
Mr. Donnison said that the girl had priority when coping with the creature.
“I stayed right after hearing what happened to her. I knew blue-ringed octopuses were around, but not in Black Wattle near Glebe,” he said.
Blue-ringed octopuses are found on the east coast of Australia and throughout Sydney Harbour.