Terrifying moment a tourist has a brush with death when they pick up a deadly blue-ringed octopus
- An oblivious tourist has been filmed free-handling a blue-ringed octopus
- It’s thought the footage was taken in Darwin and has been shared on Reddit
- The unharmed holidaymaker put the blue-ringed octopus back into the water
- Blue-ringed octopus’ have enough venom to kill 26 humans in just minutes
The alarming moment an oblivious tourist comes mere seconds from death by blue-ringed octopus bite has been captured on camera.
The terrifying footage sees an unidentified holidaymaker holding a deadly blque-ringed octopus in the palm of their hand, unaware of the imminent danger.
The video is thought to have been filmed on a Darwin beach, and sees the octopus squirming around until the unwitting tourist releases it back into the water.
Thankfully, the tourist sets the octopus free before it has the chance to unleash its fatal venom.
Unbeknownst to the traveller, a blue-ringed octopus holds enough venom to kill twenty-six adult humans, meaning the situation could’ve taken a deadly turn in a matter of minutes.
The video is thought to have been initially uploaded onto TikTok, a media app for creating and sharing short videos, alongside the caption: ‘Such a beautiful octopus’.
Blue-ringed octopus’ (pictured) have enough venom to kill 26 humans in a matter of minutes
The horrifying clip (pictured) has since been shared on Reddit and has been met with a mixture of shock and horror
It has since been reposted on Reddit by an Australian user, and the clip has been met with a mixture of shock and horror.
One user joked: ‘That fool was very lucky they were able to post this.
‘Did they go on to swim in Crocodile infested waters?
‘If we had potential Darwin Awards then this would be a good entry,’ they added.
‘Do they even know how lucky they are to be alive after doing something that monumentally stupid,’ another questioned.
‘I am usually pretty calm, but this actually made my heart race. WHAT THE HELL. It’s like holding death in your hand,’ a third exclaimed.
Another commented: ‘Lucky for all involved that they’d generally prefer to just escape. Little bit like snakes; they aren’t setting out to bite you, but they’ll do it defensively if you make them.’
Despite the high toxicity of a blue-ringed octopus bite, there have been just three recorded deaths in the last century – two in Australia and one in Singapore.
(File picture) There have been just three recorded deaths in the last century from blue-ringed octopus bites