{"id":8611,"date":"2017-08-07T08:45:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T16:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/08\/07\/news-2384\/"},"modified":"2017-08-07T08:45:24","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T16:45:24","slug":"news-2384","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/08\/07\/news-2384\/","title":{"rendered":"Flesh-Eating Sea Fleas Feast on Teen\u2019s Feet at Australian Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Credit to Author: Caroline Haskins| Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2017 15:51:16 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> If you&#8217;re terrified of the ocean because of sharks, you should reconsider\u2014the real thing you need to be afraid of is invisible.<\/p>\n<p> As reported by Australian news outlet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/victoria\/its-not-a-movie-did-marine-critters-eat-brighton-teenagers-legs-20170806-gxq9db.html\" target=\"_blank\"><i> The Age<\/i><\/a>, 16-year-old Sam Kanizay decided to cool off after a difficult football practice on Saturday night by taking a dip in the water at the Dendy Street Beach in southeastern Australia. When he came out, his legs were dripping with blood.<\/p>\n<p> Sam Kanizay&#8217;s father, Jarrod Kanizay, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/lifestyle\/health\/health-problems\/bloodied-melbourne-teen-eaten-by-mystery-sea-creatures\/news-story\/f8491eb771b0db371d4980a9bd4e29d0\" target=\"_blank\">told Australian news outlet<\/a> news.com.au that his son didn&#8217;t know he was bleeding until he stepped out of the water.<\/p>\n<p> &#8220;He went back to his shoes and what he found was blood on his legs. As soon as we wiped them down, they kept bleeding,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There was a massive pool of blood on the floor [at the hospital].&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> But the culprit wasn&#8217;t sharks, stingrays, or any of the usual suspects in marine attacks on humans. <\/p>\n<div style=\"max-width: 550px;\" data-iframely-id=\"xlLx9Hs\" class=\"article__embed article__embed--iframely\">\n<div style=\"left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\" data-iframely-smart-iframe=\"true\"><iframe  src= width=\"100%\" height=\"420\" frameborder=\"0\" ><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> There seems to be consensus among local biologists, including Genefor Walker-Smith, the collection manager of marine invertebrates at the Museum Victoria, and Richard Reina, a professor of biology at Monash University, who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/victoria\/flesheating-bugs-at-brighton-beach-what-really-ate-sam-and-why-20170807-gxqsab.html\" target=\"_blank\">told <i>The Age<\/i><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/lifestyle\/health\/health-problems\/bloodied-melbourne-teen-eaten-by-mystery-sea-creatures\/news-story\/f8491eb771b0db371d4980a9bd4e29d0\" target=\"_blank\">news.com.au<\/a> that they believe sea fleas are the culprit. They were tipped off by Kanizay&#8217;s tiny, pin-like bite marks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article__media\"><picture class=\"article__image\"><source media=\"(max-width: 25em)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=400:*, https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=600:* 2x\"><source media=\"(max-width: 40.625em)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=650:*, https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=975:* 2x\"><source media=\"(max-width: 53.125em)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=850:*, https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=1275:* 2x\"><source media=\"(max-width: 65.625em)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=1050:*, https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=1575:* 2x\"><source media=\"(min-width: 65.625em)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=1050:*, https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg?resize=1575:* 2x\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/_uncategorized\/1502122380478-Nebalia_bipes.jpeg\" alt=\"\"><\/picture>\n<div class=\"article__image-caption\">Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/pt.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Phyllocarida#\/media\/File:Nebalia_bipes.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Sea fleas encompass <a href=\"http:\/\/portphillipmarinelife.net.au\/species\/5536\" target=\"_blank\">a number of flesh-eating species<\/a> that are native to the Port Phillip Bay, where Dendy Street Beach <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brightonbathingbox.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\">is located<\/a>. One of the <a href=\"http:\/\/media.museum.vic.gov.au\/discoverycentre\/websites-mini\/crustaceans-of-southern-australia\/isopods\/sea-louse\/\" target=\"_blank\">most common<\/a> sea flea species in the Port Phillip Bay is <i> Natatolana woodjonesi,<\/i> which prefers dead and dying fishes and animals. Since sea fleas generally prefer shallow water, Kanizay was a vulnerable target. <\/p>\n<p> Walker-Smith <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/victoria\/its-not-a-movie-did-marine-critters-eat-brighton-teenagers-legs-20170806-gxq9db.html\" target=\"_blank\">told <i> The Age<\/i><\/a> that there&#8217;s no reason to panic or shut down the beaches, since this incident was highly unusual. Kanizay just happened to be standing still in the wrong place.<\/p>\n<p> &#8220;[Sea fleas are] there all the time,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You could put a piece of meat in the water, anywhere in the bay, and you could find them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> Reina <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/lifestyle\/health\/health-problems\/bloodied-melbourne-teen-eaten-by-mystery-sea-creatures\/news-story\/f8491eb771b0db371d4980a9bd4e29d0\" target=\"_blank\">told news.com.au<\/a> that the sea fleas could have been pushed to shore by strong winds, and they typically don&#8217;t travel in swarms. Kanizay&#8217;s bleeding most likely just attracted a lot of other fleas. <\/p>\n<p> &#8220;It looked really bad in the photo, his feet looked like they went through a mincer, but it&#8217;s a superficial injury and more like a graze than anything else. Because it&#8217;s a larger area it looks pretty terrible,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I would expect and hope he will recover pretty quickly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/motherboard.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/593nqz\/flesh-eating-sea-fleas-feast-on-teens-feet-at-australian-beach\" target=\"bwo\" >https:\/\/motherboard.vice.com\/en_us\/rss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/video-images.vice.com\/articles\/59888a7aa554c763574ea85c\/lede\/1502120594427-15-EastTimor-Behau_NightDive01_08_Torch_attacked_by_Sea_Louse-APiazza.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Credit to Author: Caroline Haskins| Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2017 15:51:16 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not shark jaws you have to be worried about, but microscopic pincers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[10643,13328,10378],"tags":[1709,13399,13394,13397,13395,13398,8787,13396,13393],"class_list":["post-8611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-independent","category-motherboard","category-security","tag-australia","tag-carnivorous","tag-fleas","tag-flesh-eating","tag-microscopic","tag-parasite","tag-sea","tag-teen","tag-teenagers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}