Sydneysiders may want to avoid a popular beach in the city’s south after a deadly creature was spotted lurking in the shallows.
The extremely venomous blue-ringed octopus was discovered in the calm waters of Gunnamatta Bay, south of Cronulla Beach.
“Found at Gunnamatta Bay this morning in the shallows next to where kids were playing,” the man who found it said on social media.
“Be careful out there with the little ones!”
Blue-ringed octopuses are one of the world’s most venomous marine animals, carrying enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes.
Due to their size, their bites are tiny and often painless, with their venom causing respiratory arrest, heart failure, paralysis, blindness and eventually death from suffocation.
Commenters were quick to express their horror at the deadly find, so close to an area popular with beachgoers.
“I don’t think I can ever go back in the water now,” one Sutherland Shire woman said.
Others were quick to point out that those who visit the beach are entering a natural environment where there are sometimes deadly animals.
“As scary as they are, remember it’s their environment we are encroaching on – not them on ours,” one person commented.
“Most often they don’t show their blue rings and just look like an octopus. So please teach your children to never pick up any water creatures,” another said.
Though they are venomous, the octopuses are relatively docile, only showing their bright blue rings and becoming dangerous to humans when threatened.