Hopes to run a complete Round 1 of the Women’s Roxy Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks were dashed when several athletes and one commentator endured vicious stings from a hoard of blue bottle jellyfish. The attacks from the barely visible assailants caused the WSL to suspend competition after Laura Enever was stung in the neck area in Heat 5.
A clearly distressed Enever received emotional support from three-time world champion Carissa Moore in the water before rushing in for medical attention. The stings around her neck and chest raised the terrifying possibility of breathing paralysis if left unattended. She was forced to return to the sand with nearly eight minutes remaining on the clock in her heat against Hawaiians Moore and Coco Ho.
The Australian was not the first athlete of the day to be hit by a blue bottle, also known as a Portuguese Man O’ War. WCT #2 Courtney Conlogue was seen fighting off the burning pain of a stings to both her arms in Heat 4, but she remained in the water for the duration of — and ultimately won — her heat against Silvana Lima and Pauline Ado.
During the final heat of the day, Moore and Ho both received stings to their arms and legs, and even lineup commentator Strider Wasilewski said he was hit by a jelly as well. They all received treatment and were all reported to be in stable condition, leaving the competition site shortly after the round was called off.
The spate of stings in the first round of the 2017 Championship Tour season is reflective of a larger environmental challenge Queensland has been navigating this past summer. According to statistics released in February by Surf Life Saving Queensland, the number of reported blue bottle stings has increased by 900 percent since 2016. Last summer, 3,500 stings were reported at popular beaches throughout the northeastern Australian state. In 2017, that number has skyrocketed to a stunning 38,000 reported stings. This drastic increase can be attributed to environmental conditions including elevated temperatures and shifty winds.
In a late February report, ABC Radio Brisbane quoted Dr. Lisa-Ann Gershwin, director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services, explaining that “warmer weather makes them breed more [and] live longer, and the right wind conditions bring them in.” Because the jellyfish are known to collect in massive mid-ocean swarms, the push inland for these jellies with the correct-facing sail can be oppressive to anybody stepping into the ocean. Luckily, the presence of the jellyfish tend to seasonally decrease in numbers as the weather cools going into winter.
