EDITORIAL — Visitors beware

Netizens were shocked when they saw a video of a tourist handling a small octopus she found in the beach in Anda, Bohol.

This was because the cute little octopus she was holding, no doubt very pretty to look at, was actually a blue-ringed octopus; one of the most venomous octopodes in the world.

Studies claim that despite its small size it can carry enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes. While this claim may sound exaggerated, it’s something we would rather not see tested or proven.

She was very lucky that the octopus didn’t feel threatened and attack her. But the next person who comes across such a creature like this may not be so lucky.

Not knowing the dangers of what one might encounter, especially in coastal areas, has led to some deaths.

Not too long ago, a vlogger and her friend died in Palawan after cooking and eating a crab they didn’t know was toxic. We can also look back at the case of seven-year-old Filipino-Italian Gaia Trimarchi, who died in Caramoan Island, Camarines Sur, in August 2018 after being stung by a jellyfish.

So how do we prevent deaths resulting from encountering, mishandling, or eating the wrong kind of wildlife?

On the part of tourists, they should know what are the dangerous creatures in the areas they are visiting. Just because a place is beautiful doesn’t mean it doesn’t have dangerous denizens.

One the part of municipalities, perhaps notices should be posted warning tourists of what creatures there are in an area --especially coastal ones-- and the threats they pose, and what should be done in cases of emergencies. This could have been particularly useful in the case of Trimarchi.

In response to danger, many animals have developed defense mechanisms, including ones that can kill in ways we don’t expect, like poisons and toxins. Remember that it’s not their fault for being that way. It’s us, the humans, who have to be careful since we were the ones who went to where they live, and not the other way around.