Australian author Emily Rodda.
Credit: © Michael Small

If you find yourself surrounded by giants with golden eyes, lake creatures, sand beasts, orchard keepers, and fighting spiders, you might have fallen into Australian author Emily Rodda’s imagination. Emily Rodda is the pen name of Jennifer Rowe, an Australian writer. Rowe has also published books under the pen name Mary-Anne Dickinson.

Rodda is known for her fantasy novels for children. In her series “Deltora Quest” (2000-2006), the boy Lief and his companions embark on quests to save the magical land of Deltora from the grips of the evil Shadowlord. Rodda has authored or co-authored over 100 children’s books.

Jennifer June Rowe was born on April 2, 1948, in Sydney. Rowe attended Abbotsleigh School for Girls in Sydney. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a master’s degree in English literature in 1973. Rowe began her career in publishing as a book editor and publisher at the company Angus & Robertson. She served as editor of the magazine Australian Women’s Weekly from the 1980’s to 1992. She has been a full-time writer since 1994.

Rodda’s stories are engaging, creative, and full of surprises. Rowe submitted her first published book, Something Special (1984), under her grandmother’s name, Emily Rodda. It won the Australian Children’s Book Council Book of the Year for Younger Readers Award.

Rodda has won the award six times. She has become known for children’s fantasy series, including “Deltora Quest,” “Deltora Shadowlands” (2002), “Dragons of Deltora,” (2005), “Rowan of Rin” (1993), and “Star of Deltora” (2015-2016). An anime (Japanese animation) series based on “Deltora Quest” ran from 2007 to 2010.

She was named a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019. Rodda has also published adult mysteries and cookbooks under her real name, Jennifer Rowe.

A saltwater crocodile attacks a feral pig in Australia
Credit: © Adam Britton, Media Drum World/Alamy Images

Normally invasive species get a bad reputation. They take over ecosystems, reproducing unchecked by predators and eating the native species’ food. The cane toad, native to Central and South America, has dominated regions of Australia, the Caribbean Islands, Florida, Hawaii, Japan, New Guinea, and the Philippines. Zebra mussels hopped aboard a ship in the Caspian Sea and have since clogged up the Great Lakes in the United States. Asian tiger mosquitoes, Burmese pythons, stink bugs, and Japanese beetles also wreak havoc in their new neighborhoods. However, in Australia, there is a plot twist in the invasive species narrative.

The feral pig was taking over Australia beating out livestock for food, damaging fences and water sources, and eating crops before harvest. The pigs were brought by European settlers in the late 1700’s. They soon took over and bred throughout the country. Scientists were beginning to worry the feral pigs would put the ecosystems past the brink of return. Then, the saltwater crocodile stepped in.

Saltwater crocodile
© Firepac, Shutterstock

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and one of the most fearsome predators on Earth. Adults can reach lengths of 23 feet (7 meters) and weighs of over 1 ton (0.9 metric tons). The saltwater crocodile has a long, low, sausage-shaped body; short legs; and a long, powerful tail, which it uses to swim. It also has a tough hide, a long snout, and sharp teeth to grasp its prey. Saltwater crocodiles have lived on the coasts of northern Australia and Southeast Asia, and on the islands between for millions of years. The saltwater crocodile is also called the estuarine crocodile and the Indo-Pacific crocodile. In Australia, it is informally called the “saltie.”

A saltwater crocodile’s diet depends greatly on its age and size. Young individuals eat crustaceans, insects, rats, and small fish. As saltwater crocodiles grow, they take increasingly larger prey, including sharks and water buffalo. Large adults may attack humans if an opportunity presents itself. The crocodile has had a menu change in recent years, giving a new meaning to the term “piggy bank.” They have recently taken to feral pigs, snatching them up when they go to the water to drink. Pork is on the menu and seems to be a permanent a-la-carte item.

Adult saltwater crocodiles have one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom. They can close their jaws with approximately 3,700 pounds per square inch of force. In contrast, human bite force is only about 200 pounds per square inch. Those pigs do not stand a chance if the crocodiles hit the mark on the first bite!

Because they present a danger to humans, saltwater crocodiles are sometimes feared and hated by people. In northern Australia, they were hunted almost to extinction before a 1970 hunting ban enabled populations to recover. Like most other crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles are threatened by hunting, invasive species, habitat loss, and pollution. Governments across the saltwater crocodile’s range work to educate people on how to avoid attacks. Scientists in Australia studied the carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone samples of crocodiles comparing today’s crocodiles to those from almost one hundred years ago. The study found that feral pigs had become the primary food source in the last 50 years. This finding reveals that although crocodiles used to mainly eat aquatic prey, they have adapted to eat mostly prey that lives on land! The crocodiles seem to be making a comeback with their new diet. This invasive species helped out an endangered species! You will be here for a while, crocodile!

English-born Australian actress and singer Olivia Newton-John
Credit: © DFree/Shutterstock

Olivia Newton-John was an English-born Australian singer and actress. Her recording career extended from the 1960′s into the early 2000′s. She co-starred with John Travolta in the musical motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most popular movie musicals ever made. From that film, two of her duets with Travolta, “You’re the One that I Want” and “Summer Nights,” became hits. Newton-John won a number of Grammy Awards for her music. She passed away on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Olivia Newton-John, left , and the American actor John Travolta, right , starred in the motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most successful musicals in Hollywood history.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

Newton-John was born on Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England. She moved with her family to Australia at the age of 5. When she was 14 years old, she formed her own musical group in Melbourne. In 1966, she won the Johnny O’Keefe “Sing, Sing, Sing” talent quest. The prize was a trip to England, where she recorded her first single record. She remained in England and built her career as a singer and television performer. During the 1970′s, she worked in the United States, where she became a best-selling country singer. She won a Grammy Award as best female country vocalist for her first American album, Let Me Be There (1973).

Newton-John also starred in the motion-picture musical Xanadu (1980). She had a hit with “Magic” from that film. Her other hit recordings include ”If Not For You” (1971), “Let Me Be There” (1973), ”If You Love Me, Let Me Know” and “I Honestly Love You” (both 1974), “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr. Please” (both 1975), “A Little More Love” (1978), “Physical” (1981), “Heart Attack” and “Twist of Fate” (both 1983), and “Livin’ in Desperate Times” (1984).

Her other films include Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965), Toomorrow (1970), Two of a Kind (1983), It’s My Party (1996), Sordid Lives (2000), Score: A Hockey Musical (2010), and A Few Best Men (2011). She also acted in a number of television series and made-for-television movies.

In 1979, Newton-John was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to the performing arts. In 2010, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to the entertainment industry and to the community through organizations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment. She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, a higher degree in the order, in 2019. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. In 2020, Newton-John was made a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment. She then became known as Dame Olivia Newton-John.

Cathy Freeman, an Australian runner of Aboriginal descent, wins the women’s 400–meter race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Credit: © Tony Feder, Getty Images

On your mark, get set, make history! In 2000, Australian track star Cathy Freeman became the first Aboriginal athlete to win an individual gold medal when she finished first in the 400-meter race at the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. Freeman also was chosen to light the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony. Freeman ran a successful career and then used her platform to work for equality for Aboriginal peoples.

Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman was born in Mackay, Queensland, on Feb. 16, 1973. She began running at a young age, running her first race when she was only 8 years old. In 1990, Freeman became the first Aboriginal athlete to win gold at the Commonwealth Games at the age of 16. Freeman became a controversial figure within Australia when she carried both the Australian and Aboriginal flags as she ran a lap of honor following her victories in the 200-meter and 400-meter finals at the Commonwealth Games in 1994.

The Commonwealth Games are a sports competition for members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of independent countries and other political units, most of which formerly lived under British law and government. Like the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games are held every four years. Athletes compete in such events as badminton, boxing, cycling, field hockey, lawn bowls, rugby sevens, squash, swimming and diving, track and field, and weightlifting.

The Aboriginal Peoples of Australia are the first people who lived in Australia and their descendants. Australia’s Aboriginal peoples include peoples of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some other nearby islands. Historically, European colonizers controlled many aspects of life in Australia. As a result, Aboriginal people were denied the right to land, citizenship, and equal opportunities. In the mid and late 1990’s, government policy changes began opening doors for Aboriginal people. When Freeman was running as a national icon, Aboriginal people were still fighting for equal rights in Australia.

She was named Young Australian of the Year in 1990 and Australian of the Year in 1998, the only person to win both titles. Freeman won the silver medal for the 400-meter run at the 1996 Olympic Games, and she won the world title in the event in 1997 and 1999. In 2003, Freeman announced her retirement from athletic competition. In 2007, she founded the Cathy Freeman Foundation, which aims to close the educational gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.

Australian Aboriginal Flag
Credit: © myphotobank.com.au/Shutterstock

On July 11, 2022, the New South Wales (NSW) state government announced the Aboriginal flag will fly permanently on the Sydney Harbor Bridge after a five-year campaign by advocates. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is Australia’s most famous bridge, and one of the longest single-span bridges in the world. Including its approach spans, it is 3,770 feet (1,149) meters long. It stretches across Sydney Harbour from Dawes Point in the south to Milsons Point in the north. The new addition will fly next to the Australian flag. The Aboriginal flag is the flag of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The Aboriginal people are descendants of the first inhabitants of the continent.

Sydney Harbour
© Ingus Kruklitis, Shutterstock

The lower half of the Aboriginal flag is red, representing the earth. The upper half of the flag is black, symbolizing Aboriginal people walking on the land. A yellow circle at the flag’s center stands for the sun, the giver of life and the protector. Aboriginal art commonly used the colors red and yellow. Artists traditionally made the colors from ochre, a type of clay.

Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist, designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971. Thomas created the flag as a symbol of national identity and unity for Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. The flag was first flown at Victoria Square in the city of Adelaide during National Aborigines Day on July 12, 1971.

In 1972, a group of Aboriginal protesters set up an Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital. The protesters wanted recognition of Aboriginal land rights. The protesters chose Thomas’s flag design as one of the flags to fly over the Tent Embassy. The flag’s acceptance among Aboriginal groups soon grew. The Australian government officially recognized the Aboriginal flag as a flag of Australia in 1995.

The New South Wales government announced a plan this year that would cost two years and millions of Australian dollars to affix the flag. Many people criticized the costly plan. Officials decided to replace the New South Wales flag with the Aboriginal flag in order to avoid the cost of constructing and installing a six-story flagpole. The money will now go towards initiatives for Aboriginal people.

From the time of the European colonization of Australia until the mid-1900’s, the government took control of many aspects of Aboriginal life. Government policies denied Aboriginal individuals many of the basic human and citizen’s rights that other Australians took for granted. Since the mid-1900’s, government policy has changed. Aboriginal people have received Australian citizenship, gained land rights, and reclaimed some of the land that they lost.

Today, there are more than 700,000 Aboriginal people in Australia—some 3 percent of Australia’s total population. Aboriginal languages, art, religion, ritual, and other aspects of their traditional life are gaining increasing acceptance and support within Australia and abroad. Despite these gains, however, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia still face many difficulties. They are underprivileged economically, socially, and politically. They face more problems than white Australians face in such areas as health, education, and employment.

The Aboriginal track star Cathy Freeman gained international recognition after she was chosen to light the flame at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Freeman won the gold medal in the 400-meter race. She followed her Olympic victory by taking a lap of honor with the Australian and Aboriginal flags entwined. Now, the Aboriginal flag will fly next to the Australian flag 22 years after Freeman’s victory lap.

Australian tennis player Dylan Alcott competes at the 2022 Australian Open.
Credit: © FiledIMAGE/Shutterstock

July is Disability Pride Month. Behind the Headlines will feature people claiming their disability and excelling. Claiming disability means actively accepting their condition and integrating it into their identity.

Alcott has made a lot of racket in his career! Serving up matches and breaking records, Dylan Alcott became the first man to win the Golden Slam—all four major title tournaments and the Paralympic Games—in 2021. Alcott is a retired Australian wheelchair tennis player. He also played wheelchair basketball with the Australian Rollers national team. In 2022, Australia named Alcott Australian of the Year and an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Dylan Martin Alcott was born Dec. 4, 1990, in Melbourne. At birth, Alcott had a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord. Surgeons successfully removed the tumor. However, the surgery left him paraplegic—that is, paralyzed in the legs and lower body. He began playing wheelchair tennis in school, competing globally by the age of 16. Alcott started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14 years old. He played with the Rollers in the 2006 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. At the age of 17, Alcott won a gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, with the Rollers.

In 2009, Alcott began studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in the United States. He led the school’s wheelchair basketball team to win the college championship. After his first year, he returned to Australia to prepare for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England. Alcott and the Rollers won the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship for the first time in 2010 in Birmingham, England. In 2012, they won silver at the Paralympics.

Australian tennis star Dylan Alcott competes in the men’s quads wheelchair singles at the Wimbledon Championships.
Credit: © PA Images/Alamy Images

In 2012, Alcott suffered serious injuries to his hand and arm when someone tried to move him in his wheelchair. The injury made Alcott eligible to participate in the quad class of wheelchair tennis and spurred his return to that sport. The quad class is reserved for players that also have some impairment in their playing arm. In 2014, he won the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship and the New Zealand Open. In 2015, Alcott won the quad wheelchair Australian Open title. Alcott was ranked number one in the world in 2015 after securing eight titles.

At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Alcott won the men’s quad doubles gold medal with the Australian wheelchair tennis player Heath Davidson. The next day, he won the men’s quad singles gold medal. Alcott was named Australian Paralympian of the Year for his success at the games. In 2018, Alcott won the Wheelchair Tennis Masters title.

In 2021, Alcott became the third professional and the first man to complete the Golden Slam in a calendar year. He won the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the United States Open, and the singles gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (The games, originally scheduled for 2020, were postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.) At the end of 2021, Alcott announced that the 2022 Australian Open would be his last professional competition. Alcott’s memoir Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings was published in 2018.

Sea Grass
Credit: © Rich Carey/Shutterstock

The world’s largest living thing has been hiding beneath the waves of Australia’s Shark Bay for thousands of years. But it is not some giant shark or other ancient nightmare—it is a patch of sea grass the size of a city.

Sea grass is a flowering ocean plant that somewhat resembles grass on land. It even forms large underwater meadows. Sea grass is different from seaweed, which is actually a type of algae.

Sprawling sea grass meadows carpet the bottom of Shark Bay, off the Western Coast of Australia. They serve as a habitat for fishes and other animals and grazing pasture for manatee-like dugongs. Recently, scientists conducting genetic studies of these meadows made a startling discovery.

The scientists, from the University of Western Australia, discovered that vast patches of Shark Bay sea grass are all clones of a single individual. Clones are offspring that are genetically identical to their parents. Sea grass clones itself by growing shoots from its root system that develop into new plants. These plants are capable of surviving on their own, but often remain interconnected. In many ways, the meadows function as a single individual—the largest organism (living thing) on Earth.

Similar discoveries have been made on land. In Utah, a colony of quaking aspen trees known as Pando shares a genetic identity and underground root system. The result is a single organism covering just over 100 acres (40 hectares) of land. A similar colony of mushrooms, known as the Humongous Fungus, covers more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares) in Oregon. Shark Bay’s monster meadow dwarfs these landlubbers at a staggering 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares). That’s about the size of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Evidence suggests that the sweeping swath of sea grass is some 4,500 years old. The plant’s genetic makeup may hold the key to its longevity. The species, known as Poseidon’s ribbon weed, is actually a hybrid of two other plants, and it has two complete sets of genes. Such a condition, a form of polyploidy, is generally deadly in animals. But it can be harmless in plants or even beneficial. Scientists think that all those extra genes may have given the ribbon weed the genetic resources necessary to survive thousands of years of changing climate.

However, there’s no guarantee that the gargantuan grassland will continue to survive. Global warming is raising the temperature of Earth’s oceans, posing a threat to virtually every organism living there. Sea grass meadows may be a particular point of concern because, like coral reefs, they provide habitat for a wide variety of species, making them hotbeds of biodiversity (the diversity of living things).

Soldiers take part in a memorial service during an Anzac Day event. Anzac Day is a patriotic holiday in Australia and New Zealand that honors people who served in the armed forces.
Credit: © Kristian Dowling, Getty Images

Today, April 25, is Anzac Day, a patriotic holiday honoring current and former members of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the name of the combined overseas force that fought in World War I (1914-1918). Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the Allied invasion of Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, 1915.

In World War I, the Central Powers—Germany and Austria-Hungary—fought against the Allies—an alliance that included the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. As the war progressed, additional countries joined each alliance. Australia and New Zealand, former British colonies, entered the war as allies of the United Kingdom. Allied soldiers from the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere fought troops of the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with the Central Powers, at Gallipoli. The Ottoman Empire, centered in what is now Turkey, entered the war as a German ally in October 1914.

The ANZAC became known for the bravery and skill of its soldiers fighting against the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914-1918). ANZAC forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in Turkey, in an area later called Anzac Cove, shown here. After many months of hard fighting, the troops were withdrawn, and the campaign at Gallipoli failed.
Credit: © Bettmann/Corbis

On April 25, 1915, some 75,000 soldiers from Australia, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom landed on Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. At that time, it was the largest military landing in history. The campaign was a costly failure for the Allies, who left Gallipoli after eight months of brutal and fruitless warfare. Some 127,000 people from all nations died there.

The campaign was particularly hard for ANZAC forces. More than 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed in action during the Gallipoli campaign. More than 19,000 Australian soldiers were wounded. More than 2,700 New Zealanders were killed, and more than 4,700 were wounded. During the campaign in Gallipoli, the ANZAC forces gained a reputation for bravery and skill. In Australia and New Zealand, Anzac Day is observed each year on April 25 in honor of people who have served in the armed forces of the two countries.

On April 25, 1916, services in Australia and New Zealand marked the first Anzac Day to remember the fallen of Gallipoli. Today, Anzac Day services are held throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as at Gallipoli’s “Anzac Cove.” For the last two years, services and celebrations have been limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people stood out on their driveways to safely honor the armed forces. This year, traditional dawn services and marches will resume. In Sydney, the dawn service begins at 4:30 a.m. at the Cenotaph in Martin Place, where many young men enlisted to fight in World War I. Cenotaph means empty tomb. War memorial cenotaphs honor soldiers whose bodies lie elsewhere. The solemn service includes a reading of the “Ode of Remembrance,” part of the poem “For the Fallen” written by British poet Laurence Binyon soon after the outbreak of war in 1914:

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.”

The audience then responds: “We will remember them.”

Later in the day, veterans and current service members march from Martin Place towards Hyde Park, where the Anzac Memorial is located. National ceremonies begin a few hours later in Canberra and Wellington, the capital cities of Australia and New Zealand.

The killer whale, shown in this photograph, has a glossy black back, a white underside, and a white patch near each eye. Its powerful, swift body helps make it an effective predator.
© Brandon Cole, Alamy Images

Australian scientists reported in January 2022 their observations on three instances where a pod of orcas viciously attacked, killed, and consumed a blue whale—the largest of all animals. The scientists described the attacks as “the biggest predation event on Earth,” the likes of which may not have occurred since the age of the dinosaurs. The titanic battles also settled a long-standing debate among scientists on whether gigantic blue whales could be vulnerable to the ocean’s top predators.

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived. An adult reaches up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and can weigh over 150 tons (135 metric tons)—larger than even the largest dinosaur. Orcas, also known as killer whales, are apex predators at the top of the food chain in every ocean of the world. Adult males typically measure from 19 to 27 feet (6 to 8 meters) long and weigh 4 to 10 tons (3.6 to 9 metric tons). Females are usually somewhat smaller. They often travel in groups, called pods, up to dozens of animals, usually led by an adult female. Orcas feed on a wide variety of ocean animals, but some pods are known to specialize in hunting large whales.

The scientists reported their observation of three separate orca attacks on blue whales that took place from 2019 through 2021 off Bremer Bay in Western Australia. In two of the attacks, a large pod of orcas was seen to attack, kill, and consume blue whale calves up to about 40 feet (12 meters) in length. A third attack was observed on a fully grown adult blue whale about 72 feet (22 meters) long. Up to 12 orcas cooperated in a gruesome hour-long attack led by 8 adult females as dozens of juvenile orcas circled about. The orcas attacked as a pack, biting and ripping flesh from the enormous whale as it desperately tried to flee. The scientists watched as one orca forced its way into the dying giant’s mouth to tear away and eat its massive tongue. Once the blue whale expired, about 50 orcas surrounded the great beast to feast on the carcass.

Orcas have been observed hunting every kind of large whale in coordinated packs, much like wolves. However, orcas are almost always observed preying on calves, rather than fully grown adults. More than three times their body size, an adult blue whale poses a formidable and dangerous challenge to any orca that dares attack. Scientists also believed that taking such large prey must have relied on attacks led by the larger males in the pod.

Now, scientists have observed that orca attacks against adult blue whales are successful and are often led by females. They believe that such predation by orcas may have been more common in the past before the blue whale population was decimated by whaling in the past 150 years. Such attacks may be led by mature females who have learned coordinated pack techniques to take down large prey.

The blue-ringed octopus, shown in this photograph, is both beautiful and dangerous. The octopus has a venomous bite that has killed several people.
© Richard Merritt, FRPS/Getty Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

What has eight arms and a venomous bite? The blue-ringed octopus. The blue-ringed octopus is a kind of sea animal found in the tropical and subtropical waters of Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Australia, and south Japan. It is recognizable by its psychedelic spots that are ringed with bright blue. The bodies of most blue-ringed octopuses measure about 11/2 to 21/2 inches (4 to 6 centimeters) in diameter. They measure up to about 4 inches (10 centimeters) with their tentacles.

Blue-ringed octopuses like to hide under rocks or in crevices during the day, coming out during the night. Though they inhabit depths as far down as 160 feet (50 meters), you don’t want to get caught near their parrotlike beaks. Sometimes, they bite people. The venom from their salivary glands then enters the wound. Several people have died from bites by these animals. The bite is often painless. A small spot of blood on the skin when the animal is removed may be the only clue that a bite has been sustained. The first effect of the venom is a rapidly developing numbness. Victims often stop breathing, requiring mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Treatment is the same as for snakebite. No specific antidote is available.

The blue-ringed octopuses belong to the genus Hapalochlaena.