
Tiny 'meat-loving' marine creatures 'eat' teenager's legs at Melbourne beach - chadcmulligan
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/07/tiny-meat-loving-marine-creatures-eat-teenagers-legs-at-melbourne-beach?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+AUS+v1+-+AUS+morning+mail+callout&utm_term=238271&subid=23615832&CMP=ema_632
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santaclaus
> The next night, Kanizay went back to the beach with a pool net full of meat
> and captured the creatures he said were responsible.

That is probably the most Australian thing I have ever heard...

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DrScump
"Throw another barbie on the shrimp!" ??

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chossenger
Don't do that, you'll mush the shrimp

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chadcmulligan
A solution has been found [http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-
at-bright...](http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/flesheating-bugs-at-brighton-
beach-what-really-ate-sam-and-why-20170807-gxqsab.html)

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Avernar
Is there anything on that continent that's not trying to kill you?

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5706906c06c
First, what the actual fuck? Second, am I missing something, how did they stop
the bleeding? I feel like the story just stopped with no further explanation?

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R_haterade
I imagine his body stopped it via a natural clotting mechanism. All that was
required was removal of the lice.

This is absolute nightmare fuel, though.

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ams6110
It's always Australia with the bizarre life forms. Giant spiders, other
spiders and tiny jellyfish that are lethally poisonous, and now flesh-eating
marine invertibrates.

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jimmux
We're normally pretty safe from the beasties down here in Melbourne. This case
is really strange, especially considering how many people are in the water
here every day. It's not like up north, with jellyfish nets, crocs, etc.

Then again, last year I was knee-deep a couple of beaches over from this
incident and an unidentified creature (probably stingray) slashed my foot from
heel to toe - so maybe we are a bit conditioned.

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zizee
With only one person affected, it sounds like this person had an odd reaction
of some sort, rather than some super flesh-eating monster being on the loose.

The way they describe the wounds continuing to bleed profusely reminds me of
leech bites, which even once the leech is removed, will continue to bleed
because of the bite shape and anti-coagulation agents the leech has in its
saliva.

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mnl
Actually they look like rather voracious flesh-eating/bloodsucking tiny
shrimps: [http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-
bri...](http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bitten-teens-dad-films-brighton-
beach-sea-lice-enjoying-a-meal-of-fresh-meat-20170806-gxql3d.html)

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jumpkickhit
Hopefully this isn't a sign that warmer ocean temperatures and higher levels
of dissolved CO2 are making the oceans more hospitable for creatures like
this.

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codezero
Is the only evidence that it was sea lice that when they went back with meat,
sea lice ate it? That seems pretty thin, but I guess it's better than nothing.

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NamTaf
Why? It's unlikely that you'd find multiple parasites like that given it's a
novel-enough story to make news in the first place. Even in Australia, this
doesn't normally happen when you wade in to the ocean.

Moreover, it's likely that certain tides had washed a population of them into
the beach (Melbourne's beaches are in a huge bay - Port Phillip bay - and the
marker [1] indicates Brighton where he swam) so they're unlikely to disperse
too quickly until a tide/weather change shifts them back out or disperses them
throughout the bay. Additionally, if I recall correctly there's been wind/rain
across Melbourne from the south-east over the last weekend, which would also
wash them towards the Brighton side of the bay.

[1]: [https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k](https://goo.gl/maps/WzQX4UDpp6k)

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forkLding
Sea lice are parasitic creatures, although feeding on tissue and blood, havent
seen them outright attacking and feeding

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proee
He's lucky he only soaked his legs and didn't take a full on swim.

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ascorbic
Perhaps one day Australia will be safe for human habitation.

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dmh2000
add another Australian monster to the list

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TheSwordsman
And this is what nightmares are made of...

