Jellyfish stung 13,000 people on Australia's east coast in the past week

Bluebottle Portuguese Man O War jellyfish.
(Image credit: iStock/KarenHBlack)

Just when you thought it was safe to go to Australia.

A "wall" of bluebottle jellyfish is washing up on the country's eastern coast, local officials say, forcing the state of Queensland to close several beaches. They stung 3,595 people last weekend and 13,000 in the past week in Queensland alone, and some scientists think climate change is to blame, The Washington Post reports.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.