was watching a documentary on this jellyfish last week... the jellyfish is about the size of a thumbnail!
Deadly jellyfish halts Kate Hudson film in AustraliaAn unscheduled appearance by a deadly jellyfish has halted shooting on Hollywood star Kate Hudson's latest feature "Fool's Gold" in Australia, the film's publicist said Friday.
Hudson and co-star Matthew McConaughey had to cancel filming the final scene of the adventure picture at Hervey Bay in Queensland state when a potentially fatal irukandji jellyfish was found in the water, publicist Fiona Searson said.
"We have a marine expert on the film to ensure everyone's safe and he found the jellyfish," Searson told AFP.
"We decided not to put the cast into the water because of the jellyfish."
Searson said the surprise appearance by the jellyfish had not altered the film's scheduled release date early next year and the climactic scene would be shot at an alternative location.
"It's an unusual problem to come across," she said. "It's certainly the first film I've ever worked on where jellyfish have stopped filming -- only in Australia, I suppose."
The irukandji jellyfish has a thimble-sized translucent body with 30 centimetre (12 inch) trailing stingers containing venom described by scientists as among the deadliest in the animal world.
No antidote has been found for the irukandji sting, which causes excruciating pain and can lead to paralysis and a potentially fatal rise in blood pressure.
It became the subject of serious research when two tourists, an American and a Briton, died of so-called "irukandji syndrome" in Queensland in 2002.
The jellyfish is normally found in warm tropical waters hundreds of kilometres north of Hervey Bay, and its discovery so far south has raised concerns that global warming could be extending its range.
The marine biologist working with the film crew said swimmers needed to be warned and may have to adopt precautions taken on northern beaches, where swimmers wear lycra "stinger suits" in jellyfish-infested waters.
"You're going to at least have to inform tourism and tourists that there is the potential... I mean these animals have the potential to kill you," Seymour told ABC radio.
(source:
Yahoo News)