A Melbourne man recently emerged from the ocean with his legs covered in blood seeping from thousands of tiny wounds.
Dr. Murray Thomson from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at The University of Sydney, thinks that Cirolana harfordi, a small crustacean that lives on the coast and in rivers, may have been to blame. These creatures have been known to take down sharks, have bitten divers on the face and have even skeletonised the top half of a human, using their slicing, guillotine-like mouth parts. If they're around where you're swimming, you've probably got about 10 minutes to get out of the water!
I chatted to Murray about his research into these fascinating (terrifying...) creatures, their various types and behaviours, as well as their evolution and precautions you should take if you think there may be Cirolanids around.
Songs in this episode - all licensed under a Creative Commons License:
Ocean swimming... with John Sheely
Ocean swimming... with Chloe McCardel
Ocean swimming... the Coals to Newcastle
Ocean swimming... in extreme environments
Ocean swimming... with Bold and Beautiful
Ocean swimming... and underwater forests
Ocean swimming... with Shane Gould
Ocean swimming... and Places We Swim
Ocean swimming... and COVID-19
Ocean swimming... and event organisation
Ocean swimming... and The Memory Pool
Ocean swimming... the oceans seven
Ocean swimming... and extreme endurance
Ocean swimming... with the wild swimming brothers
Ocean swimming... and wave power
Ocean swimming... and tsunamis
Ocean swimming... in poo
Ocean swimming... with whales (part 2)
Ocean swimming... with whales (part 1)
Ocean swimming... and the box jellyfish antidote
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