Stonefish

Hi,
I have another question ... What should one do if they get stung by a stonefish? ( apart from putting the area stung over a flame! ) and of course prevention is the best cure ...reef shoes and don't push off coral etc ...would medicine like cortazone be of any use ?

THANKS
Ps Wallaboy I have sent you a PM.

Piss on the wound-old trick but the heat helps neutralise the venom and urine is sterile.

I thought that was for jelly fish stings-

Urine--they say it's good for coral cuts, but not sure if it will do anything for stone fish stings. Worth a try.

You basically have to get to a doctor to get an antihistamine shot. If there will be a delay, some people take an antihistamine pill, similar to what one takes for allergies, etc. For a centipede bite, we used to take an antihistamine called Polaramine. If you don't have that, something like Actifed might help. But basically you should get to the doctor for a shot.

Not sure a flame would really help!

jeese- how did we all live through time in the tropics? I remember a typical drunken Palauan picnic where a stonefish found in the swimming area was put into a bucket. After a messy lunch a Palauan (not one of us outsiders) stuck his hands into the bucket to wash off. Luck held- he was not stung- but did shout and yell about his close call. Don't remember what they said we should have done if he had gotten stung.

The first aid treatment of stonefish stings is to put the affected part in hot water (as hot as the person can tolerate without scalding) - the heat supposedly helps breakdown or neutralise the poison.

Hot water is not easy to find in the places where one usually encounters stonefish.Next time I encounter a stonefish in my kitchen sink I'll remember to run the kettle.

South American indigenous people have used the piss method of treating Stingray wounds for millenia, it's worth nothing that even today there is no effective anti venom except for applied heat-Stonefish venom is 'heat labile'.

Someone needs to find a use for the venom- that will spur a search.

Heat helps breakdown the poison.. That's way I was told to put it over a flame... not an easy thing to do if you are it the middle of the lagoon.. Thanks Raro I'll look into bringing the antihistamine pills.
We saw LOTS at the back of one of the motus (17 years ago) The locals we were with speared them and lined them up on the beach. they were hidden under the sand and the only way of seeing them was to look for a down turned mouth shape on the surface of the sand ,the water was shallow around some rocks at the back of the motu near the reef.I stood over one for a long while deciding if it was or wasn't one Utanga speared it and pulled out a huge STONE FISH!!! They then prepared the stonefish and we ate one!!!!! I was quite nervous eating it but I am still alive!!

Holly---you might head into the CITC Pharmacy on Rarotonga, in the middle of town, before you go to Aitutaki. Pick up some Polaramine, and ask Chris what else is recommended as far as remedies that they might have.

But as you said, the best defense is to not step on one to begin with. Always wear reef shoes when you go in the lagoon on Rarotonga, and Aitutaki. Aitutaki has a lot more stonefish than Rarotonga, so be careful there not to use your hands and touch large underwater coral formations, etc.

Stepping on a stonefish--and actually getting stung in the process---is pretty rare. I've probably stepped on one or more on Aitutaki and never even knew it, as I always wear reef shoes.

[To give you some perspective: In the past 20 yrs, there was only one person I even read about who died from stepping on a stonefish in the eastern South Pacific. And it was not in the Cooks, it was on Rimatara, in Fr. Polynesia. It was a teenage girl who has just come out of the hospital for pneumonia, and went swimming in that lagoon. She stepped on one, no reef shoes, and got very sick, as she was not fully recovered from the pneumonia. She died on the way to Tahiti while being airlifted. So, that was the only death, and it was under unusual cirumstances, and it was not in the Cooks. Nonetheless, a few precautions should make it unlikely for you to even get stung to begin with.]

I'll do that thanks !!

I have been doing some research on stonefish and on many sites they say to emerge the stung part ie . foot !! in hot water as the beinging of first aid and then of course go straight to a doctor

Another Stonefish tale...

When I was on Aitutaki, I was just enjoying a nice beach nap not far from the Matriki resort when 2 young Dutch ladies came screaming onto shore. "Rockfish!" "Rockfish!", they screamed.

Honestly, I had seen the two snorkelling and I thought, heart racing, that one of them had stepped on one of the dreaded fish. Fortunately, they had only seen one. The owner of Matriki went out in his boat streightaway and speared a stonefish. Whether or not it was the offending fish is unknown, but I have a funny feeling there was more than one if he got one that quickly and easily.

He put the fish (ugliest dang thing I have ever seen) in a bucket and ostensibly set it outside the main building for all to see. He proudly proclaimed "There see? I got 'im!"

The Dutch girls never went in the water again that day.

Mr. Matriki said he would skin it and cook it for his supper...........Ugh.

The moral of this story: Wear some foot protection when in the lagoon on the west side of Aitutaki when in the water.

The ugliest fish often taste the best Stonefish

ROFL #6. Thought the same myself, but you said it so much better.

Talking about fish have you ever been attacked by a Trigger fish!!! It is not nice ... it won't hurt to much ,just a small bit mark BUT it is Very un-nerving having a determined (very pretty) fish chase you!!!

There used to be whole schools of those little buggers out in front of the Palau Pacific Resort. Often on a morning floating about you'd invade their territory and I agree- un-nerving is a good word for it.

Have been chased and bitten by trigger fish at Palolo Deep in Samoa.
Had a Nemo (Clown Loach) have a go at me at Navini Island Fiji just a month or so back.
He had a large Anenome all to himself and objected to me having a long look at him (or her) and his home.

My very first real snorkel was in Hawaii- Hunanamun Bay- or whatever that place is just beyond Diamond Head on Oahu. I had NO idea what I was doing, was just feeling things out, and had some of the fish food that they sold you in my hand. As I began to settle into the water, about 10 million fish of various sorts attacked- they know there was food and intended to get it. I was uninjured but terrified. In retrospect I am rather surprised I ever gave it a go again. But thank heavens I did- but never with food.

We were in the Red Sea when a woman wearing white gloves was bitten by a huge Wras- he thought she had come to feed him an egg. The thing was about 5 ft long- now that would have been something to worry about.

16---Triggerfish---often the weirdly-colored "Picasso triggerfish"---will nip at you if they have just laid eggs, just like a mother hen protecting newborn chicks. They lay their eggs usually in the shallower waters of the lagoo, maybe one to three feet deep. The area is about 2 m in diameter that they will protect.

So, if a trigger fish nips at your ankle or leg, just back up and swim around it, maybe 10 ft to one side or the other. Do not kick at them. A German couple staying at my place had this happen one day, so I told them the above advice for their future snorkeling in the lagoon. The next afternoon they came back into the office, with a few drops of blood on his ankle. Turns out they were apparently trying to assert that humans were in charge of the lagoon, and had ignored my advice. They lost. The triggerfish won. I gave him a little neosporin and a band-aid, and officially sympathized, but underneath I was glad the triggerfish had won!

I wonder if "intrepidtravellers" will encounter a Triggerfish?

secretly giggles

Probably be kicking and screaming for hours in the lagoon!

A quick way to get antihistamine into your system is nasal spray. That, and heat, might be a good first aid bet.

Feeding fish!!! We were in Cuba and there weren't many fish to see... I had been spoilted by the Cooks,Samoa and Tahiti! So the hotel adviced me to bring out an EGG!I bet they were laughing too!!! So I did ...the same thing happened to me I was immediately surrounded by thoushands of fish ...they were jumping out of the water to get the darn egg as I scrambled away screaming and threw the egg away but unfortunately it crumbled into tiny bits which landed all around me so you can imagine what a great laugh everyone had including my then boyfriend(now husband).
As for the trigger fish I gathered that she was protecting her eggs or home and always swam clear of her area.. which was as you said Raro JE. about 2msq.

Gee....I have always been worried about standing on a stonefish when out snorkeling. I am pleased to hear that my chances are very good for surviving it as for some reason I thought it was more serious. Can anybody help alay my fears of lionfish ( do I have the right name? lots of beautifull fins with sharp poisoned tips )as well. I saw one once and was just stunned by its beauty before I suddenly realized what it was and backed off. Aloha

Taranaki---Yes, the lionfish has toxic fins, which should not be touched or brushed against. Backing off is a good plan. I do not know how toxic they are, but I've never heard of anyone with a severe sting from a lionfish. However, there are no lionfish in the lagoon of Rarotonga, they are only on the ocean side of the reef, so there was not much contact between snorkelers and lionfish where I was.

Maybe other TT'ers have heard of or had their own experience with lionfish?

We saw Lionfish inside the lagoon at Rarotonga.
Have never had any problems with them as they move slow and are usually hidden inside or around outcrops of coral .

27--Very interesting, thanks, I had not heard of that, nor seen any. But I guess they may come in at times. So, general advice as before, stay away from them!

Seems to me that there are many Lionfish in the Palau area- either that or another creature that looks a lot like them. Never went to battle with one however.

I got bitten by a barramundi once, stupidly offering it some squid. It reached up and made a little kissing motion like it was going to delicately take it, then all of a sudden this huge hole opened up and it jumped up and took my whole hand in its mouth, right up to the wrist.

Of course I fell backwards shrieking in surprise while my boyfriend collapsed in hysterics. Damn thing eventually let go but they have a rough pad on the roof of their mouth and it left a good scratch. I deserved it.

By the way, the hot water treatment for stonefish is the same treatment for stingray stings, according to the Queensland Ambulance Service first aid course.

Boy, anyone reading this thread who's going to the Pacific will probably never get past the water line!! LOL

(FACT: snorkelling in a lagoon is probably safer than walking somewhere on the islands.)

Certainly they will bring their kettle of boiling water with them, which should be a laugh.

I spent 4 years in the island and only one time encountered someone who met a jellyfish. There was the time that my youngest stepped on a sea cucumber and got his feet wrapped in - gunk? Turns out that islanders use this as protection from coral- I was sure it would eat his feet right off.

uh..islands