Jellyfish stings in Australia

Jellyfish stings in Australia can cause pain, paralysis and death for swimmers with exposed skin. Numerous venomous species of jellyfish occur in Australian waters, including the box jellyfish and Irukandji Jellyfish. Box jellyfish are believed to have caused at least 69 deaths since record keeping began in 1883. Although they are commonly mistaken for jellyfish, bluebottles are actually siphonophores.

Numbers of stings

Irukandji are rarely found outside Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Between 1985 and 1997 from cases of Irukandji sting where location was recorded, there were 83.4% in Queensland, 9.1% in the Northern Territory, and 7.5% in Western Australia; 81.5% of cases occurred in the afternoon. In a fourteen-year period there were 660 Irukandji stings in Australia, which were recorded by Dr Fenner, a medical officer with Surf Lifesaving Australia. There were 159 Irukandji stings reported in Broome in a five-year period with 25% of those stung being hospitalised but no recorded deaths. There were 62 people reported being stung by Irukandji in Cairns in 1996; of these more than half occurred in December, 92% were stung on hotter than average days, with 63% occurring while swimming inside a stinger net enclosure on the beach. In summer 2001–02 there were 160 people stung by the middle of February, with around 100 of these in Cairns, and between 10 and 20 in Townsville, the Whitsundays, Great Keppel and Agnes Water.
Northern Territory hospitals report approximately 40 jellyfish stings annually.

List of fatal stings

This is a list of fatal jellyfish stings that occurred in Australian territorial waters by decade in reverse chronological order.

21st century

Name	Age	Year	Month	Species	State or Territory	Location; Comments
Unnamed boy	14	2022	February	Chironex Fleckeri	Queensland	Eimeo Beach, Mackay.
Unnamed boy	17	2021	February	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Cape York. Patterson Point, near Bamaga.
Unnamed victims	74 and 76	2016	November	Irukandji	Queensland	Michelmas Cay. Two French tourists died within 10 minutes of each other. Hypothesis formed by cardiologist. Dismissed as speculation by tour operator.
Unnamed boy	6	2007	November	Chironex fleckeri	Northern Territory
Unnamed girl	7	2006	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Umagico Beach near Bamaga.
Unnamed boy	7	2003	March	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Wongaling Beach near Cairns, stung on chest and neck. Allegedly the 68th person in Australia known to have died from a chironex fleckeri sting since records began in 1883.
Unnamed male	44	2002	April		Queensland	Port Douglas
Unnamed male	58	2002	January	Irukandji	Queensland	Hamilton Island, Whitsunday Islands
Unnamed boy	5	2000	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Yarrabah, near Cairns

20th century

Name	Age	Year	Month	Species	State or Territory	Location; Comments
Unnamed boy	5	1987	January	box jellyfish
Unnamed boy	6	1984	January	box jellyfish	Queensland	Lockhart River, north of Cooktown.
Unnamed boy	5	1980	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Wongaling, near Tully. Animals were observed by victim's older brother.
Unnamed woman	26	1971	November	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	North Mission Beach. Investigated by Dr J. S. Barnes of Cairns.
Gregory Noel Jarrot	12	1971	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Seaforth Beach, north of Mackay.
Unnamed woman	20	1970	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Forrest Beach.
James Woolla	10	1967	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Aurukun.
Unnamed boy	4	1966	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Half Moon Bay.
Terence Barney	5	1965	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. Aboriginal boy was pronounced DOA at hospital.
Paul Haritos	6	1964	February	Chironex fleckeri	Northern Territory	Mica Beach, four miles from Darwin. Victim was standing in calf-deep water. Collapsed instantly and died quickly.
Unnamed girl	9	1964	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Palm Cove. Occurred "a few months earlier" than the Paul Haritos incident.
G.C.D	6	1962	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	South Mission Beach.
R.V.B	50	1962	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Yorkey's Knob.
Unnamed victim	7	1962	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Thursday Island.
J.R.K	9	1962	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Bamaga.
Lynette Mary Starkey	11	1957	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	North Mission Beach, Queensland. Stung on the legs while bathing with other children in shallow water. Collapsed on the beach and died. Weals visible on her legs.
Robert Tennant	10	1957	March	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Bluff Beach.
T.W.S	38	1956	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Pearce Creek.
Unnamed boy		1955		box jellyfish or sea wasp	Queensland	Cardwell
Clarke William Currow	8	1954	February		Northern Territory	Darwin, close to Larrakeyah army barracks, three yards from shore. Died a few minutes after being stung.
James Ernest Lane	33	1953	July	box jellyfish	Queensland	Saltwater Creek, Townsville. Victim experienced severe pain, paralysis and frothing at the mouth.
Unnamed victim		1951		box jellyfish	Queensland	Kissing Point Baths, Townsville
Wojcik Czestaw	31	1950		Chironex fleckeri	Northern Territory	Mindil Beach, Darwin. Died within minutes of being stung. Specimen was collected and identified by Frank McNeill, curator of invertebrates at the Australian Museum. Victim's name was also reported as Wokeik.
Brian Andrew McNamara	10	1949	December	box jellyfish	Queensland	North Mission Beach near Tully.
Unnamed man		1944	January	sea wasp	Northern Territory	Victim was a serviceman.
W.J.H	21	1943	March	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	South Mission Beach.
Robert Ernest Day	8	1941	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Rowe's Bay, Townsville. Boy died en route to hospital.
J.C.	13	1941	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Townsville.
Patrick Paull	3 1/2	1939	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Horseshoe Bay.
Ruth Hamilton	5	1939	February	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Googarra Beach.
Thomas "Tommy" Frederick Chandler	11	1938	March	sea wasp	Northern Territory	Lameroo Beach, Darwin. Government baths. Stung on chest, body and face. Jellyfish specimen was collected for analysis. Victim's name was also reported as Robert Chandler. Chandler died 15–20 minutes after being stung. A boy called Bennie Babun who went to his rescue was also stung and hospitalised. Others stung during prior fortnight were treated with morphine.
David William Taylor	19	1937		box jellyfish	Queensland	Bramston Beach near Babinda, Cairns. Stung while in waist-deep water. Assisted from the water by George Giffin but collapsed and died thereafter.
Salvatore Cantarella		1934		box jellyfish	Queensland	Googarra Beach, near Tully. Marks on right leg and left foot. Believed to have died of shock and heart failure after the sting. Post-mortem conducted by Dr. A. R. Townsend.
Maurice Woods	7	1930	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Magnetic Island, near Townsville.
"Mr. Mann"		1923	February	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Proserpine
Charles Trenaman	15	1916	March	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Rowes Bay, near Townsville Stung on neck, body, shoulder and legs. Died about 10 minutes later from "nerve shock from pain".
Albert George		1911	May		Queensland	Cannon Valley beach, Pioneer Bay, near Mackay. Arms attached to the boy's belly, torso and arms. Victim lost consciousness and died within half an hour. Open bathing at this location was prohibited after this second death within 6 months.
Gould		1910-11			Queensland	Occurred during Christmas holiday period. Cannon Valley beach, Pioneer Bay, near Mackay.

19th century

Name	Age	Year	Month	Species	State or Territory	Location; Comments
Fred Harwood	14	1892	November	Chironex fleckeri	Northern Territory	Sea baths, Darwin
Unnamed victim		1885	January	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Townsville
Frederick William Smith	11	1884	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Ross Creek, Townsville
Peter Clarke	8	1878	December	Chironex fleckeri	Queensland	Cleveland Bay, Townsville