very small but very deadly

I've pulled a cray pot at rotto before which had a little bluey in it would have been the size of a 10cent piece, noticed it swimming around in the bottom of the boat near my foot, scooped it up with a bucket and sent it back over the side. A lot of people wear boots when pulling pots as apparently its not that uncommon but because they are so small no one sees them.

yeah i picked up an occie pot which i'd speared an occie in and wouldn't come out so carried it into shore under my arm years ago and found one on top of the pot when we dropped it on the group very lucky didnt get bitten. very easy to miss them.

"Sgt McKiterick said such attacks were unheard of during his years of policing along the coast."

Ummm...you wouldn't really class it as an 'attack' would you?

have a look closely at the 'baby occy' you can buy to eat in fish shops!! Often you can just make out little blue rings! 

yeah my dads mate told us one of his mates were out getting some sort of shells out at garden island. when they were cleaning them one got stung by something and just said ow. the captain asked what it was and he said it was nothing. they then found the occy and called up sea rescue, they met them half way there on a speed baot and rushed the guy to shore and to the hospital. took 32 mins from garden to a freo hospital apperently they had roads and stuff cornerd of just to get through faster with this guy

at Blue Holes in Kalbarri. There are normally heaps of kids exploring those rock pools.

gee do you get then around metro (hillarys to Ocean Reef?)

if so MY GOD it would have been my life...

i was busy snorkelling off Mullaloo by the reef and there were a couple of shells and slates which my mate and i like to pick up (to see whos is bigger) and as i hit the bottom my luck there is a Occy hiding under/inside this ledge it was smaller than my hand and as i was about to pick up the shell this occy just darted for my hand. but i was already at the surface XP  i was so Adrenaline rushed it was unreal. still dont know if it was a Blue ring. Had the EXACT same thing happen at seal island (Little Island) when there we more shells XP and it darted out again.!

The Blue ring toxin affects the respiratory system, essentially you need to breath for the victim, for extended periods. They will seem totally out, but will be aware of what's going on around them, so extended Expired air rescuscitation, if the heart becomes an issue then CPR.

I got bitten on the foot by a small occy whilst in Kalbarri pulling my pots at Xmas, didn't see him and he bit the side/bottom of my foot, so shoes or reef walkers are a good idea, (the occys highlight the rings when angry or threatened), so I stirred this little one up to see if he was a blue ring, There was no "Blue" response so I told my son what the drill was if I got crook. (in my experience the Blue ring occy is always a small occy)

For venom from barbed fish/ stone fish/ cobbler/ etc immerse the stung area in as hot a water as the person can stand without (obviously) burning them, the poison is protein based, and the hot water breaks down the proteins and gives at least some relief until you get to hospital.

Remember Blue rings = extended Expired air resus.

cheers

The most common of the two species is Hapalochlaena maculosa often weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow
coral and rock pools of Southern Western Australia to southern Qld. 

While resting, the Blue Ring Octopus is a pale brown
to yellow colour. The blue rings on its body only "light up" as a
warning when the animal feels threatened.

It starts life the size of a pea and is fully grown at about the size of a golf ball.  It can carry enough poison to kill 26
adults within minutes. There's
no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart
massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way
out of your system.

The Blue Ring Octopus is not an
aggressive animal and when disturbed it flattens out its body to hide
and changes its body colour to blend into its surroundings.

It hunts during the day. It eats
invertebrates (crabs) and wounded fish.

Symptoms

• 
  

  
  Onset of nausea. 
  

  
  


• 
  

  
  Hazy Vision. ( Within seconds
  you are blind.)
  

  
  


• 
  

  
  Loss of sense of touch, speech
  and the ability to swallow. 
  

  
  


• 
  

  
  Within 3 minutes, paralysis sets
  in and your body goes into respiratory arrest.
  

  
  

full description of the horrible consequences of a sting is at:

http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/blueringedoctopus.htm

Almost picked one up when helping my mate pull pots, luckily he realised what it was and stopped me.

many years ago i remember i saw one on two occasions arond certain rocky areas in mandurah. quite striking to look at wen the blue rings are all lit up

they also like to hide amongst mussels......plenty in cockburn sound. First came across 5 of them taken in mussel catches near where the cbh terminal at kwinana is now and that was in the very early 70's.

if you have kids warn them because they are a pretty animal when lit up.

have encountered quite a few myself but only once in WA, at the Abrolhos. Be bloody careful picking up beer bottles and the like from shallow water. Shammy is on the money ........EXTENDED AIR RESUSCITATION ...could take hours just keep at it until help arrives

down in albany we used to load the barges with oyster racks and get a fair few blue rings walkin round the bottom of the boat