Hazardous Marine Life Encounters

Over 1,000 species of Marine animals can cause injuries to humans.

Photo by Hermanus Backpackers, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Bites

Bites are associated with sharks, barracuda, and moray eels. There are thirty-two shark species known to attack humans but only five show consistency: the Great White Shark, Tiger, Bull Shark and Oceanic White Tip. However, in an average year less than one-hundred people are attacked by sharks.

Photo by Carl C. Hansen, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Contact Irritants / Toxins

Many Marine species can cause contact irritation. Fire sponges and red beard sponge are most common. The sting from fire coral is caused by an injection of a water-soluble proteinaceous toxin.

Stinging Injuries

Sea Anemones, corals, jellyfish and nudibranchs all can cause injury via a stinging apparatus called the nematocyte. Treatment includes warm water immersion, vinegar application, then application of a drying powder such as lower or talcum powder and scraping removal of the nematocytes with a sharp knife. Sea Urchin and Stingray can also cause painful puncture injuries.

Left Photo by Fernando de Sousa, used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license

Middle Photo by Aaron Parecki, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Right Photo by the National Ocean Service, used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license

Seafood Poisoning

Eating bad seafood can be an enormous health risk.

	Cause	Therapy
Scomboid	Improperly refrigerated fish. Bacteria breakdown histadine to histamine. Symptoms of flushing & itching	IV Hydration. Antihistamine
Ciguatera	Fish consumption of a poisonous dinoflagellate food source. Symptoms of nausea, vomiting & diarrhea	Supportive
Shellfish Poisoning	Shellfish consumption of a poisonous dinoflagellate food source. 4 syndromes: Paralytic shellfish poisoning Diarrhea shellfish poisoning Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning Amnesic shellfish poisoning	No antidotes. Airway and cardiovascular support
Vibrio	Gram negative bacillus causing diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting	Support. Antibiotics