‘This One Just Hit Differently’: Neil Agius Shows “Unbearable” Potential Box Jellyfish Sting During 24-hour Training Swim
Ultra swimmer Neil Agius’ 24-hour “training session” swim was met with several obstacles, one of the most difficult being a jellyfish which wrapped itself around the side of his body.
“As the sun set and the sea turned black visibility drops to almost zero,” stated Agius on social media.
As a result, Neil swam into a jellyfish which wrapped itself around him.
“The pain was unbearable,” he added.
In an attempt to try to ease the pain, Agius tried to slide the jellyfish down, but he felt the hairline tentacles stuck to his body.
“The length of each tentacle tells me this ain’t a normal stinger,” said Neil.
Agius thought it may be the box jellyfish that was spotted in Birżebbuġa just a couple days back, which could have ended up on the east side of Gozo due to the currents.
While Malta’s box jellyfish species is luckily much less venomous than its deadly Australian counterpart, its stings can still be very painful. And in fact, Agius, who said he’s been stung by jellyfish over 500 times, even said this particular one “just hit differently”.
What do you think it could have been?