There are more kinds of venomous life forms found in the sea than anywhere else.  Creatures like scorpion fish, stingrays, sea urchins and jelly fish, all produce dangerous venoms.

The candidate for the most lethal venom of all is the box jelly fish.  This barely visible creature lives in the sea off northern Australia.  A notorious killer, it brings death from its powerful venom within minutes.  It's killed sixty-five Australians in the last fifty years.  Its bell shaped body can have as many as sixty tentacles, each more than seven feet long.  It's capable of causing death with a mere touch.

Whilst most jelly fish feed on plankton, the box jelly fish feeds on fish.  Once it selects its prey, it kills with the flick of a tentacle.  Each tentacle contains some two and a half million specialized stinging cells per inch.  Every one of them is ripe with venom!

The box jelly fish's ability to kill is enhanced by its ability to swim well, a skill unusual in jelly fish.  When pursuing a fish, it can clock speeds up to two and a half knots.  Once it nabs its prey, the jelly fish moves it into its transparent stomach for pre-digestion.  Then it sends the semi-digested broth along canals lining the interior walls of each tentacle, where the nutrients are taken up.

So next time some one says, "It's just a jelly fish", you might want to mention the Australian box jelly fish, the world's most dangerous variety.

MOVING BEYOND MATTER
by Christopher Shennan

It would be idyllic if all of nature was friendly, and no danger lurked on land and sea.  Experience, however, teaches us otherwise.  The box jelly fish is just one example.  There are many other natural dangers in our environment from large predators to tiny parasites.

Also, it would be wonderful if all people were guided by high ideals and friendly dispositions; if no evil lurked in men's hearts and there was no need to take precautions.  Again, daily news, personal experience, and overflowing abuse centres bring us rudely back to reality.  Unseen dangers lurk in the common areas of everyday life.  All people do not have pure motives, always tell the truth, or live unselfish lives.

While few people may be as poisonous as the box jelly fish, there are places and situations it may be prudent to avoid.  It would be foolish to swim in an area notorious for the presence of box jelly fish; it is just as foolish not to be aware of the dangers around us.  That does not mean we should foster a suspicious nature, but a little caution may save us a lot of grief.

Life is indeed full of many dangers, yet no one need live in constant fear.  There is no need to develop a fortress mentality and avoid contact with people.  The people of Israel were taught that, as long as they honoured God and lived in His Presence, they could rely on His protection.  They lived in fear and trepidation only when they left God out of the equation.  I know warm-hearted, loving people who live life to the fullest, in spite of many perceived dangers.  Their secret?  "Living each day with an awareness of the presence of God."