The Deadliest Creature is not a Snake
October 6th, 2005The deadliest creature alive today is not a snake, or even a shark, but a creature from Australia that is sometimes difficult to see, and believe it or not, a ladies’ pantyhose may save you from it!
We are talking about the sea wasp or the marine stinger, which holds enough venom to kill 60 adults and will kill you within thirty seconds to four minutes, if you do not receive help. These are found along the north coast of Australia and some of the Southeast Asian seas.
Sea wasp is a misnomer, as this is no wasp or insect, but a jellyfish, with delicate, almost invisible, tentacles nearly fifteen feet long; and a ball up to a foot in diameter. An encounter with about ten feet length of a single tentacle can mean death to a human, or at least acute pain accompanied by severe nausea and shortness of breath. The poison is this effective in order to overpower the prey so that it does not struggle too much and cause damage to the fragile tentacles.
The poison is contained in the tentacles in darts, which get activated when in touch with any chemical, for example, those on the scales of a fish or on human skin. Thus, if their sensors do not detect any chemical, these sea wasps don’t sting: covered skins are a good protection. The Australians have discovered this, and wear pantyhose into the sea on their arms and legs. The lifeguards on some Australian beaches who wear these do look ridiculous, but are in fact quite smart, in that they are safe from a painful sting, or even death!
By: Damyanti Ghosh
October 23rd, 2005 at 7:44 pm
Did you know that one of the most dangerous creatures known to man is a house fly. It is known for hanging around manure piles, dead animals and other things that are full of dangerous bacteria. It carries disease and can make you very ill.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
I think snakes are some of the most hostoric things alive in the world but i also think the most deadliest creature alive in the whole world is the Komodo Dragon
June 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Actually the deadliest creature known to man is not the common house fly (although a good observation)or the Komodo Dragon , which is a creature confined primarely to the island of komodo in central Indonesia and posses no threat to the greater man-kind, but in fact, the deadliest creature known to man is the mosquito. Through its transmission of malaria, the West Nile virus and other diseases, the mosquito claims thousands of human lives each year in the U.S. alone and nearly, if not more than, 2 million lives worldwide.
July 1st, 2007 at 11:19 am
All three of your observations are very well researched but I must say that none of your creatures are the deadliest creature. The deadliest creature though I’m very sure none of you will know it is a Poison dart frog. If touched, the poison from the frog will kill you in almost 1 min. without medical attention. Though it looks very cute It’s very deadly. It is found in the deep deep rain forests.