After a nice, easy day sail from Mooloolaba (how civilized!) we dropped the hook in Deception Bay. The afternoon sun was warm and the water was calm. A refreshing swim seemed like the perfect way to end the day. But was it safe to swim here? We had the entire bay to ourself - there wasn't anyone around to ask. Maybe the dangers of shark attacks and stingers are a bit exaggerated for dramatic effect... if we jumped in now for a 20 minute swim, what would our chances of be of getting chomped on or stung? 50%? 80% 10%?

I peered over the stern, frustrated about how infrequently we'd played in the ocean this season, and noticed that we were completely surrounded by a jellyfish bloom. Thousands of translucent white jellyfish hovered and bobbed at the surface around us. They stayed so long that I finally lost interest in watching them and slipped inside to do a bit of research on the stingers of Moreton Bay. Maybe they were the non-stinging kind! After all, we've swam with plenty of jelly fish in the Pacific Northwest. It was like swimming in a tub of giant tapioca - and while bumping up against them felt a bit weird it was completely benign.

After a few minutes of googling I came to the conclusion that we would most likely have been stung multiple times if we ventured in, as would have been impossible not to bump into dozens of them. But, this particular species, the 'Blubber' Jellyfish, typically only inflicts mild symptoms and wouldn't kill us.
I also learned that there are 16 common species of jellyfish in Queensland's coastal waters, but the most lethal ones are the Box Jellyfish, the Blue Bottle, and the Irikandji. Their stings cause very serious symptoms which can require hospitalization, and while numerous people get stung, few actually die from them each year, and most have a full recovery (some with permanent tattoos to enhance the tales of their encounter). As far as shark attacks go, a prominent shark expert indicates that you're more likely to get in a car crash driving to the beach, and then drown or get hit in the head with a surfboard, than die from a shark attack along Australia's East Coast.

Since then we've chatted with our Brisbane friends and heard some alarming personal accounts about stinger injuries and the prevalence of bull sharks in the bay. We made a good decision to stay on deck.