What are blue bottles in Australia? TikTok warns locals and holidaymakers to 'not swim' in Australian beaches over jellyfish

Last year there were numerous reports of blue bottles washing up on Australian beaches. Hundreds of the poisonous stingers washed up on Bronte Beach putting swimmers at risk of painful stings.

Blue bottles are a common sight in Australia. They are not deadly to humans but their sting is painful. For the average person, getting stung by one will present no harmful danger, however, for the very young, elderly, people allergic to them or in extreme cases, they can present further complications.

The TikToker says: “How come there are all of these people yet there’s like nobody swimming in the ocean. Well, let me show you.”

He then pans to a shot of a blue bottle jellyfish on the sand. He says: “This is genuinely the most blue bottles I’ve seen on any beach like ever. You want to know what the worst part of it is? The water is absolutely beautiful but you never know what could be under here”.

“Bluebottles aren’t a single animal,” UNSW researchers Amandine Schaeffer and Jasmin C Lawes said in 2022. She said: “They’re a floating colony of individual organisms, each variously responsible for reproducing, capturing or digesting food and catching the wind. The bluebottle’s long, trailing tentacles are designed to sting prey and creatures they feel threatened by, including humans.”

Blue bottles are commonly encountered in the summer months on the eastern coast of Australia, and during Autumn and winter in southern Western Australia. Throughout Australia, blue bottles are more common on exposed ocean beaches after strong onshore north easterly winds wash them ashore and are rarely found in sheltered waters.

What should I do if I see a blue bottle?

• Don't touch the tentacles, even if the blue bottle is dead
• If you are stung, rinse the area with seawater, then apply hot water or ice
• Take a photo of the blue bottle from above and include the length of the float