Killer Sea lice/Prawn larvae/Alien spores Invade Melbourne beach

The horror incident hasn’t stopped locals from getting back in the water at Brighton. Swimmers said they had never experienced anything like it.

“We swim there every day and we’re in the water for anything from 15 to 30 minutes, and no one’s ever experienced anything like this,” Paul Duckett told Fairfax Media.

“This was a first, so that’s why I query whether it’s sea lice or some other creature that have caused the issue.”


Associate Professor at Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences Richard Reina, however, was confident Sam’s bites were caused by sea fleas.

“I think it’s very rare,” Mr Reina told news.com.au.

“When it happens you brush it off, or move, or get out of the water and there’s no consequence, whereas in this case, Sam was standing in cold water for quite a long time.

“He probably thought the pins and needles he described was the cold and didn’t realise there were crustaceans chewing on his feet.”

Sam’s father said while his son was recovering in hospital, the family was waiting for answers and doctors had been at a loss to explain what had eaten through Sam’s skin.

“When he got out, he described having sand on his legs, so he went back in the water,” he said.

“He went back to his shoes and what he found was blood on his legs.

“As soon as we wiped them (his legs) down, they kept bleeding,” he said.

“There was a massive pool of blood on the floor (at the hospital).

Associate Professor Reina said sea fleas did not travel in a pack, but once a couple began chewing on his feet, releasing some blood into the water, others would have been attracted.

“They are very good at finding food,” he said.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/bloodied-melbourne-teen-eaten-by-mystery-sea-creatures/news-story/f8491eb771b0db371d4980a9bd4e29d0