Flesh-eating sea bugs attacked an Australian teen’s legs

[Kontinuum]

When 16-year-old Sam Kanizay waded into the water off Brighton Beach late Saturday, it wasn't anything unusual for the Australian teen. He had grown up in that area of Melbourne, part of an active family that participated in triathlons and frequently swam in the ocean.

His legs were sore from football practice earlier that day, so for about half an hour, he stood waist-deep in the dark and let the cold waters soothe his feet as he listened to music on his iPhone.

It wasn't until he emerged from the water that he realized his feet were bleeding. Profusely.

“We live across the road from the beach,” his father, Jarrod Kanizay, told The Washington Post. “He hobbled home pretty quickly. He rang me, actually, from outside. … He said, 'Dad, you better come down outside.' I said, 'Why?' He said, 'Just come down!'

“We were pretty amazed.”

They discovered thousands of tiny bites on the teen's legs, almost as if he had been pricked with a pin repeatedly. There was also a massive amount of blood.

“There was no stopping the bleeding,” his father said. “We just had to get him to hospital.”

The chill of the water had apparently numbed Sam's feet enough to where he didn't feel any bites while he was standing in the bay.

But on the way to the hospital, Sam told him that his pain was “up to an eight out of 10,” his father said.

He instructed his son to be honest with the nurses about the pain so he wouldn't have to wait long in the emergency room.

They didn't have to worry; one look at his son's feet and the bloody “mess” they made and hospital staff admitted Sam right away, Kanizay said.

Sam's injuries baffled doctors and nurses at first.

They treated the bleeding and inspected his feet, but no one could say for certain what had caused his legs to look like those of a “Piranha 3D” extra.

Kanizay, who said he has lived in the Brighton Beach area for 20 years, posted photos of his son's feet to Facebook and said it was a mystery to his neighbors and friends, as well.

“I hadn't heard of this happening before, and neither had my friends or any of the medics,” he said. “Since the story broke, there have been some people who have had minor bleeding and, therefore, they would go to just their local doctor.”

Kanizay returned to the bay and waded back to the same spot where Sam had stood — albeit with two wet suits on to protect his skin.

Using a pool net and some raw meat, he collected thousands of what looked like mites, each of them about 2 millimeters long.

Genefor Walker-Smith, a marine biologist at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, identified the creatures Kanizay had collected as lysianassid amphipods, minuscule scavenging crustaceans that are attracted to the chemicals emitted by decaying meat, the museum said in a statement.

Sometimes referred to as “sea fleas,” the amphipods will not cause lasting damage, she said.

“They occur in swarms, so they'll swarm on a dead fish and eat it in next to no time,” Walker-Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

She added that what happened with Sam was an “unlucky” occurrence and that other beachgoers shouldn't be afraid of similar attacks.

“It's possible [Sam] disturbed a feeding group, but they are generally not out there waiting to attack like piranhas,” she told the ABC. “The crustaceans would have swarmed off that piece of dead fish and onto his leg. He may have already had a cut, perhaps, and they were able to smell that wound or any chemicals that the wound was giving off.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-the-bleeding/

[ParanoiD84]

So he was unlucky? shit happens.

[Deleted]

They made a horror movie about these creatures

[ParanoiD84]

They made a horror movie about these creatures

lol what movie is that?

[Independent voter]

All this stuff that eats people in Australia is becoming bad for tourism I think, you see Australian state agencies trying to play incidents like this down.

You're probably more in danger when you come to the US though I don't know. (I'm thinking get shot versus eaten by a croc or something)

[EyelessCrow]

This reminds me to a lesser extent when I was younger and walked through a high grass field in shorts and tennis shoes. Later that night I woke up to my legs just being covered from knee down in bumps and completely red and burning. I got rushed to the hospital and it turned out they were freaking chigger bites, just the thought of how many there must have been to leave almost no exposed bit of skin without a bump was a creepy feeling. At least they didn't eat me lol...or I guess they kinda did.

[Deleted]

lol what movie is that?

I can't actually remember the name but wasn't too bad

[Independent voter]

This reminds me to a lesser extent when I was younger and walked through a high grass field in shorts and tennis shoes. Later that night I woke up to my legs just being covered from knee down in bumps and completely red and burning. I got rushed to the hospital and it turned out they were freaking chigger bites, just the thought of how many there must have been to leave almost no exposed bit of skin without a bump was a creepy feeling. At least they didn't eat me lol...or I guess they kinda did.

[Deleted]

Why do you have to post things that make me not want to leave the house?

Why couldn't you have posted something about cute pandas or maybe fluffy puppies licking peoples faces?


Why must you post about flesh-eating sea bugs that tear your skin off before you realize it.

[EyelessCrow]

That is, as far as I've read a wives tale. They do not burrow into you and lay eggs. I actually DID believe that at that point in time because that was what a lot of people were telling me. But for the amount of bumps I had on my legs I never saw a hint of anything like that. You would think that shit hatching from under your skin would be noticeable. There was nothing in my sheets/socks/pants that hinted at anything of the sort. And everything I've read since then says the same thing. They do leave something behind when the bumps are there but it's not eggs, I think it's something they use to try and feed on you and your body is fighting the foreign object, thus causing the bump, redness and burning.

[Glaziola]

Why do you have to post things that make me not want to leave the house?

Why couldn't you have posted something about cute pandas or maybe fluffy puppies licking peoples faces?


Why must you post about flesh-eating sea bugs that tear your skin off before you realize it.

Hope it helps!

[Deleted]

Hope it helps!

[Independent voter]

That is, as far as I've read a wives tale. They do not burrow into you and lay eggs. I actually DID believe that at that point in time because that was what a lot of people were telling me. But for the amount of bumps I had on my legs I never saw a hint of anything like that. You would think that shit hatching from under your skin would be noticeable. There was nothing in my sheets/socks/pants that hinted at anything of the sort. And everything I've read since then says the same thing. They do leave something behind when the bumps are there but it's not eggs, I think it's something they use to try and feed on you and your body is fighting the foreign object, thus causing the bump, redness and burning.

Yeah, I think you're right. Why would they leave eggs in you when the chiggers want to spread them all over so their hatchlings can find their next victim?

[zlygork]

You know the meme, everything in Australia is off to kill you

[Deleted]

Hope it helps!

That is a majestic panda that I aspire to be like one day. Bring on the panda master race! And I'm not talking about the pandas from WoW, they're idiots.

- - - Updated - - -

Eh, he wasn't really trying to hurt the tourist. It seems like he just wanted to play with the jacket in the end! Pandas are lovely creatures.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Eh, he wasn't really trying to hurt the tourist. It seems like he just wanted to play with the jacket in the end! Pandas are lovely creatures.

Anyone else tried something like that and you'd call them a mugger :P

[Deleted]

Anyone else tried something like that and you'd call them a mugger :P

I think we can give this cute panda a pass however, don't you agree?

[Aeula]

Another reason not to go to Australia...

[Skylarking]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_TB6onHVE

Lucky im not that shit scared of spiders (ran into huntsmans quite a few times) but the stuff in the ocean here is an absolute nope. Haven't swam at the beach in years.

[BloodyAngel12]

I can't actually remember the name but wasn't too bad

Was it this?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1713476/