Aussie mum shares 'scary' moment four-year-old boy scoops up deadly octopus
Kayla Screen was walking along the water's edge with her barefoot son, when he came across one of the world's most venomous marine creatures.
An Aussie mum has described the terrifying moment her young son scooped up a deadly blue-ringed octopus at a popular family fishing spot and has warned others, saying, “I still feel sick about it".
Kaila Screen, from Newcastle, NSW, said she was walking about half a metre off shore at Speers Point Park in Lake Macquarie on Tuesday morning with her four-year-old son Kade who was searching for marine life using a plastic blue bucket.
“He was trying to catch fish and water creatures and was walking along the shore with his bucket and no shoes on,” Screen told Yahoo News Australia. “He saw something move and wanted to chase it. I thought it was a fish but it wasn’t swimming very fast.
“He said it was a blue-ringed octopus and I said, ‘I don’t think it is.’ I didn’t see any blue markings, so I said it should be fine to scoop it up because we didn’t really know what it was.”
Blue-ringed octopuses live in rock pools and ocean reefs and are one of the world's most deadly marine creatures. Their venom can cause nausea, respiratory arrest, heart failure, blindness and paralysis which can lead to death if not treated in minutes.
Screen said the discovery was terrifying, especially when she thought about what could have happened.
“Afterwards, he was kinda like, ‘Why did you let me scoop it up?’” she told Yahoo News Australia. “I said, ‘It was an accident, mate. I didn't know what it was.’ It was very scary.”
Posting about the experience to social media, Screen said it was a close call. "I still feel sick about it, and he knows never to touch any octopus ever again.
“It didn’t even look like one to be honest until the blue rings lit up in the bucket because it was angry. Yes, I know they are everywhere in the lake but just a reminder if you tend to get complacent with kids that like to explore, like I did.”
Mum eager to warn locals about octopus risk
Screen said while some locals and visitors to the area knew it was home to blue-ringed octopuses, she wanted to warn others as there were no signs indicating their presence in the water.
“Most people were quite shocked to know they were in the lake,” she told Yahoo.
One social media user commented, “Yep, my son picked one up in his net right at the back of the caravan park at Speers Point about a month ago. He realised straight away and got him and his brother out of the water. It freaked everyone out, that’s for sure.”
Another added, “this happened at our local at Bolto. Down there most arvos swimming and playing and next minute one of the kids scooped it up and I swear my heart stopped.”
“Crap, I had no idea they were around this area!” a third wrote.
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'Venomous species' has caused 'human fatalities', expert warns
Alison Miller, collection manager in malacology from the Australian Museum Research Institute, told Yahoo News blue-ringed octopuses, a group of multiple species within the genius Hapalochlaena, were small, difficult to see and can camouflage themselves.
“Octopods can modify their appearance, colour and texture, and will blend in with their environment,” she told Yahoo. “The rings, and/or lines, depending on the species, can usually be seen if you have a close look but I wouldn’t recommend any attempt to handle them.
“The rings or lines can be seen as a striking iridescent blue and will sometimes flash, presumably as a warning. They can be very attractive.
“There have been reports of them swimming within the water column but they are more often located on, in or near the bottom. I’ve only personally ever found them inside shells, crevices, in rock pools and at the bottom or rocky sides of ocean pools.
“Blue-rings are venomous (rather than poisonous) although the tetrodotoxin venom they use has also been found within the tissues and eggs of at least one species. All three named species are reported to have had human fatalities.”
She said bites could be painless and hard to detect and if bitten, you should call triple-0 immediately.
"Without basic life support, death from respiratory paralysis can occur within 30 mins,” Miller told Yahoo. "But – they are lovely and fascinating animals and they appear to happily coexist in coastal waters with high human populations with little incident. You leave them alone – all good.”
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