What the hell are Stinger Nets? Well ever wondered what it’s like to swelter on a hot day, but not be able to swim in the ocean because if you did, it would kill you?
That’s right, seeing this lovely tropical scene but knowing that you couldn’t go in?
Welcome to my childhood!
I grew up in Far Northern Australia, in the tropics. Near the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest. Just like anyone, you tend to take things for granted in your home town that visitors might see as amazing.
And you don’t really appreciate where you grew up until you move away for a while!
But one quirk about growing up where I did was not being able to swim in the ocean whilst the heat and humidity drove you stir crazy (otherwise known as going troppo or mango madness).
That’s because of one the deadliest animals that float around in the water – the box jellyfish!
Anyway, this blob of marine creature can easily kill many humans, due to the poisonous barbs located within its tentacles. It’s a beast that’s evolved to it’s environment and there’s no way you’d ever want to set foot into the sea if one of these things was around.
The ‘stinger season’ generally runs from November to April in Northern Australia. If you do travel around the Cairns/Townsville/Mackay regions and happen to visit the beach, you’ll come across a site like this:
This is a ‘stinger net’. A custom made swimming enclosure that prevents the box jellfish from entering the cordoned off area and coming into contact with swimmers.
You won’t see them at other times of the year, but during stinger season, this is the only way you can swim safety in the ocean up that way.
Otherwise, you’ll have to cover your entire body with stockings or some other piece of clothing, but who wants to look like a living breathing mummy at the beach?
I don’t think so!
However, when I was growing up as a kid, stinger nets weren’t around so we just had to run around in the back yard with the hose on to cool down.
Also, not to scare anyone off, but stinger nets also do have their own challenges – such as trapping wildlife that may accidentally enter the enclosure.
Whilst extremely unlikely, a saltwater crocodile managed to slide over the booms and into a stinger net at Ellis Beach once, north of Cairns and couldn’t get out!
But don’t worry, it wasn’t THAT big!
So there you go. This is just a reminder that the unusual things that you see in other countries when travelling are usually a product of the environment that they occur in!
Enjoy your swim next time you take a dunk in the ocean!
Looks like a nice place to swim though – as long as the things that might kill you are kept away!
I haven’t had any dramas swimming in the stinger net… yet! Nah, they’re good and it’s a great way to swim in the ocean when you normally can’t!
That looks like a nice place to swim hoping that the net keep them away. I never had a chance to swim in a protected area knowing that beyond the barrier the danger awaits!