Adventure Ausrama Blog

When Captain Cook "discovered" Australia in 1770 it was known that Southeast Asians and even Chinese seafarers had landed in Australia. Portuguese and Dutch ships had also stopped to replenish water supplies. It was not considered possible that people had landed in Australia from another continent. In the 1940s mysterious coins were discovered. While some were coins used by the Dutch East India Company others were identified as coming from the Kilwas Sultanate of Tanzania in Africa. They were used in the prominent trading center 1,000 years ago. If Africa was trading using Australia as a location en route Aboriginals could have come into contact with African merchants. Though the coins were found on the fringe of the Australian north coast, getting fresh water would have been important for ships traveling through the waters of the Wessel Islands. Aboriginals would have been curious about any "strange" looking new people. Africans would certainly have been ...

There has been a breakthrough in the research on box jellyfish. They have thousands of stinging cells on their ten-foot long tentacles. New discoveries have been made into their evolution. This will help in finding antivenom and new treatment for stings to humans. Some species of jelly fish have good sight: they have 24 eyes, can sense light and form images of their surroundings. Little is known, however, about what they actually see. They don't need to see to mate. Females and males just get together and fertilize eggs in a mass spawning, though some species do appear to mate one-on-one. The most dangerous jelly fish, in Australia, is the Box Jellyfish (sea wasp or stinger). Some can immobilize while others can kill. The Portuguese man of war is held to be very dangerous, but despite its name it cannot kill humans. Chironex flecken , an Australian box jellyfish, can be lethal. A similar type, Chironex yamaguchii , has killed people in Japan. Evolution of jellyfish has been p...