Deadly discovery near popular Aussie tourist beach sparks warning
Puffer fish contain a poison called tetrodotoxin and the discovery of up to 100 of them at a popular Sydney beach has sparked alarm.
Beachgoers have been warned to tread carefully after a 'deadly' discovery near one of Australia’s most popular tourist beaches. Between 50 and 100 dead puffer fish were reported to have mysteriously been found by a dog walker on Friday morning at both Gordons Bay and Tamarama, south of Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach.
Local woman Amy was concerned that either she or her dog might accidentally step on one. “I thought Oh my God. Then I picked my dog up and I absolutely left," she said.
"It made me think, if Gordons Bay is where they're all congregating, I don't really want to swim there any more.”
While most of the fish were quite small, Amy estimated some were as long as her forearm. Last month in the Victorian city of Geelong, one estimated to be twice that size washed up on the sand.
How dangerous are puffer fish?
All species of puffer fish are covered in spines and are full of a poison called tetrodotoxin.
Sydney University animal behaviour expert Professor Ashley Ward told Yahoo News the level of toxicity can vary between different species. He warned if a dog ate one it could be lethal, but the likelihood of this occurring would be low.
The most famous type of puffer fish is the Japanese fugu fish — it achieved international notoriety from an episode of The Simpsons which tells the story of Homer eating one at a sushi restaurant and being given 22 hours to live.
In real life, it is eaten as a delicacy, but only after its organs which contain lethal amounts of poison are removed. Deaths from consuming the toxin while eating the fish are rare, with about 50 cases of pufferfish poisoning occurring each year in Japan, according to the nation's Ministry of Health. Symptoms usually begin to occur within 20 minutes to three hours of ingestion and include numbness and paralysis.
Authorities urge anyone 'stung' to seek urgent medical attention
Just after 1pm, Randwick City Council confirmed its staff were removing 20 to 30 puffer fish from the sand at Gordons Bay, and that NSW Beachwatch safety monitoring service had reported them at Tamarama beach, about 2km north.
Council confirmed the incidents had been referred to the EPA, and it urged anyone "stung" by a puffer fish to seek urgent medical attention.
"We don’t know why the fish were washed in. Unwanted species caught on fishing lines are often returned to the ocean and can wash into the shore. Other variables can include high winds, changes in water temperature, algal blooms or disease outbreaks," it said in a statement.
It added, "Puffer fish are extremely poisonous and should be avoided. If beachgoers in the Randwick City Council area see puffer fish on the sand, they can notify our Lifeguards or call Council’s customer service line on 1300 722 542."
Experts shed light on puffer fish mass mortality
Pictures taken at the beach at 7.30am show large amounts of seaweed and plastics intermingled with the puffer fish at Gordon’s Bay. After they were shared on social media someone responded with an unverified report of a similar occurrence on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Yahoo News reached out to several marine experts about the occurrence in Sydney and some speculated overnight winds, swell and rain could have played a role in driving the fish to shore.
Sydney University marine ecology expert Professor David Booth said without dissecting the fish it would be impossible to determine what caused the mass mortality.
He said the event isn't necessarily linked to a marine heatwaves or climate change, which are known to kill migrating fish and sea dragons. While disease could also be a factor in the deaths, testing would prove difficult because they would have picked up bacteria from the sand.
"You often get these unusual occurrences and people think the marine biologists know what that is. But there are just so many possibilities," he said.
"I'm not discounting the idea that there was a major oil spill, a huge heat pulse or something like that, but without the evidence we can't tell."
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