Jellyfish: Do tourists need warnings?

Some say they must know risk, but others warn against panic
Nirmal Ghosh, Straits Times 26 Nov 10;

BANGKOK: The death of a woman stung by a box jellyfish near the seaside town of Hua Hin two weeks ago has refocused attention on whether more should be done to warn tourists to the region.

Ms Ann Nordh, 59, was the second tourist from Sweden to die from a jellyfish sting while wading in regional waters this year.

In February, 45-year-old Carina Lofgren died in agony almost immediately after being stung during a night swim at Langkawi in Malaysia.

In another incident earlier this year, another Swede, nine-year-old Aida Rosenberg, was also stung while in shallow waters near Koh Chang off Thailand's east coast.

Only quick reaction from a fellow Swedish tourist - a trained firefighter - saved her. He gave the girl a heart massage and administered vinegar to the stings.

Stings from the box jellyfish cause extreme pain and can result in death within seconds.

Another deadly jellyfish believed to be flourishing in Asian waters is the irukandji, which does not kill as quickly, but can cause severe reactions that result in death later.

Recent observations confirm a rise in jellyfish populations across the world, including in Europe and Japan. Record-sized 'blooms', or gatherings, have been linked to an imbalance in marine ecosystems triggered by overfishing. Warmer water temperatures may also be a factor.
But experts are reluctant to link the rise in jellyfish populations to the deadly incidents. They say that greater awareness could have led to a rise in the reporting of such incidents.

But some argue that beachgoers and divers should be given more information about the risk of being stung.

In some cases, relatives of victims have said they were never warned about the danger.

In a report on the case of Ms Lofgren, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet accused Swedish tour operators of not informing their clients about the risks.

In February this year, signs on Koh Lanta warning tourists about jellyfish stings were blacked out by locals worried about scaring visitors away.

At a seminar on marine stingers in Phuket at the time, Dr Somchai Bussarawit, a leading Thai jellyfish researcher, told participants: 'People must be told the facts accurately. 'This is about telling people how to be protected from danger. They have to be warned.'

To be sure, the Thai authorities have warned tourists. The governor of Phuket, as well as Thailand's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, have said that people should be alerted to the dangers of box jellyfish.

However, some experts warn that panic is not the answer.

While the danger is real, deaths from box jellyfish stings are still statistically rare. Thailand, for instance, receives well over 10 million foreign tourists a year, the vast majority of whom visit one of the country's famed beaches, and only a small number of jellyfish stings have been reported this year.

A recent Journal of Travel Medicine paper on jellyfish noted that severe stings had long occurred across the Indo-Pacific, from India to Australia.

Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin, a senior adviser at Australia's Sting Advisory Board and a co-author of the paper, said road accidents kill more people, including tourists, in Thailand.

And she said that reports of fatal incidents may give rise to irrational fears.

'The typical tourist isn't going to decide to not come to Thailand because they are afraid of a road accident. They are far more afraid of things like jellyfish, sharks, things they perceive they don't have any control over,' she told The Straits Times over the phone.

Education and understanding are crucial to calming these fears, she said. 'The jellyfish are scary only if you don't know how to protect yourself.'

Simple measures to guard against jellyfish include wearing protective clothing - even materials as thin as Lycra or pantyhose help - and keeping vinegar, which stops the stinging and neutralises the venom, handy.