francene--blog. Year 2013
  • Home
  • Blog

Dec 27th

12/27/2013

 
Picture
Carnivorous fish related to the piranha have attacked bathers in an Argentine river, injuring about 70 people of all ages. A lifeguard told Associated Press that bathers suddenly began to complain of bite marks on hands and feet as they cooled off in a heat wave.

The attack happened on Christmas Day while thousands of people were cooling off in the Parana River in Rosario, 300km (186 miles) north of Buenos Aires. It's normal for there to be an isolated bite or injury, but the magnitude in this case was great. Paramedics reported dozens of people with bites on their extremities. Some children have lost entire digits.


Picture
Officials blamed the exceptional attack on a school of voracious palometa fish. Apparently, this is a large type of piranha with sharp teeth.

That's enough to send fear into anyone. I'll bet the local people will think twice before immersing themselves again. I remember a time in the early 70s, when my family was touring Australia. We stopped off at an isolated beach in the north of Queensland. I sat under tamarind trees in the heat of the day, hoping for a sea breeze to cool me. No such luck. Although we'd been warned about stingers, deadly jellyfish with trailing tendrils, I longed to immerse my body in the lapping water. Jellyfish stings in Australia can cause death, with there being several venomous species of jellyfish, such as the box jellyfish and Irukandji Jellyfish. Box jellyfish have caused more than 60 deaths in Australia in the past hundred years.

Temptation won. But I was quick. I ran into the shallows, bent so that the water covered me for a second, and then ran back to the scorching sand. In two seconds, the air temperature removed any benefit. I wonder if youngsters living beside the Argentine river will challenge themselves in this way.


Kristen from The Road to Domestication link
12/26/2013 09:11:26 pm

My word! That is SCARY! I don't think we have piranha here in Florida, but we have sting rays (which are quite painful - I know from experience) and sharks (which I hope I never encounter!)

Francene Stanley link
12/26/2013 10:08:56 pm

Rays and sharks are bad enough. Those poor people will remember the attack for the rest of their lives.

kungphoo link
12/26/2013 09:22:30 pm

A long time ago, we had 2 piranhas one ate the other after a while..

Francene Stanley link
12/26/2013 10:10:12 pm

I guess eating whatever moves is part of their nature. Needless to say, they don't make good pets.

Amy link
12/26/2013 10:19:41 pm

Oh my! This is awful, Francene! Those poor people!

Rick Bylina
12/27/2013 02:55:14 am

My brother once caught a piranha in the Raritan River in New Jersey, USA. Must have been someone's pet that got too big for them. One a fishing contest with the most unusual catch that year. All good.

Alana link
12/27/2013 06:23:57 am

I saw this on the news today (unlike so many of your other posts). Of course, the concept of having to cool down on Christmas Day might be appealing to those of us who live in climates with severe winter weather but this is no joke - I feel for those people, especially the children, very much.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Catastrophe
    Creativity
    Family
    Life Experiences
    Mother
    News
    Novel Writing
    Novel-writing
    Retirement
    World

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from Parker Knight