Queenslanders are being warned to watch out for more bluebottle jellyfish after thousands of beachgoers were stung over the weekend.
Over 3,500 people required first aid on the Gold and Sunshine coasts, as unusually strong northeasterly swell conditions dragged record numbers of jellyfish onshore.
Several swimmers suffered anaphylactic shock and were attended to by paramedics.
Reece Drury, lifeguard supervisor on the Sunshine Coast, says while conditions have improved, the threat is still ongoing.
"We are still experiencing bluebottles up here on the Sunshine Coast today. We have had a slight wind change from an east-northeast to an east-southeast. But due to there still being a little bit of east in the wind, we are still seeing bluebottles roll in this morning. Not as bad as the last few days, but there are still bluebottles up here on the Sunny (Sunshine) Coast."
The bluebottle jellyfish has a gas-filled float that suspends them from the surface of the ocean, meaning they'll follow swells and wind changes.
They are usually prominent across the eastern coast of Australia during the summer months, and during autumn and winter in southern Western Australia.
While there were almost 2,000 reported sting cases along the Queensland coastline on Sunday (January 6) alone, Griffith University Professor Kylie Pitt says the current influx is not an anomaly.
"Bluebottles are probably responsible for the vast majority of jellyfish stings along the Queensland coast so they're really common. They're very abundant in some years and that's effectively what's happening this year. There's lots of jellyfish and lots of people in the water, and therefore lots of stings."
Ms Pitt, who works at Griffith University's Sea Jellies Research Lab, says more research is needed to find out why jellyfish numbers fluctuate.
"Jellyfish populations often go through cycles. So you'll have several years where they are really abundant followed by several years where they are really scarce. And we don't yet have a really great handle on what's driving that variability. So it might be related to temperature, it might be related to the amount of nutrients and therefore food in the water. But we still need a lot of research to try and work out what is driving these large variations that we see in jellyfish populations."
There are between 10 and 30,000 cases of bluebottle stings reported along the eastern coast of Australia each year.
No fatalities have been confirmed in the Southern Hemisphere, but Ms Pitt says the sting can be painful.
"Bluebottles are fairly unpleasant. They are quite painful, they might cause some of your glands to swell up. Typically they are not particularly dangerous so they don't usually cause people to be hospitalised and they usually can be treated on site. With the Irukandji jellyfish, and there's been quite a few stings by Irukandji at Fraser Island this year, that toxin is actually lot more potent and it invokes much more severe symptoms within the patient and so those people who are stung by Irukandji may end up being transported to hospital for treatment."
Lifeguard Reece Drury says there are simple ways to treat a sting from a bluebottle jellyfish.
"Obviously they have a tentacle. You need to remove the tentacle with your fingernails and then get up to see a lifeguard or life saver. Now if they're not available, the best obvious treatment is a hot shower, as hot as you can handle. That will neutralise the sting. If some places don't have access to hot water, then the second best thing is ice which will numb the area."
