Listening English: Teen's Feet Become Food for Tiny Sea Creatures
Sometimes it isn't the big sea creatures you have to worry about. Sometimes it is the smallest.
Bitten and Bloody
Sam Kanizay is 16 years old. He lives in Melbourne, Australia. Last month, he was playing sports. His legs hurt. So he walked into the ocean. He soaked his feet and ankles for about 30 minutes.
When he walked out of the water, his ankles and feet were bleeding. They looked like they had thousands of tiny pinholes in them.
Kanizay went home and showed his parents. They quickly took him to the hospital.
"There was no stopping the bleeding," said his father, Jarrod.
Meat Trap
Health workers had no idea what could have bitten Kanizay. So his father went looking for answers.
Jarrod went back to the beach the next night. He took a pool net with him. He filled the net with raw meat. He stuck it in the water.
Soon, tiny bug-like creatures started eating the meat. Jarrod took a video. He also trapped some of the creatures.
"What is really clear is these little things really love meat," he said.
Flesh-Eating Fleas
Experts say the creatures are sea fleas. They are a kind of very small crustacean. That family of animals includes shrimp and crabs. Sea fleas eat rotting plants and animals.
"They'll swarm on a dead fish and eat it in next to no time," said Genefor Walker-Smith. She is an expert on sea life.
Walker-Smith thinks Kanizay might have stood in the middle of a feeding group of sea fleas. He might have had a cut on his leg that the sea fleas could smell.
She said people don't need to worry. Sea fleas aren't waiting in the water, ready to feed on people. They don't often bother people.
Kanizay has no plans to stay out of the water. He has lived near the beach all his life.
Doctors kept him in the hospital for a few days. His wounds will heal.
Bitten and Bloody
Sam Kanizay is 16 years old. He lives in Melbourne, Australia. Last month, he was playing sports. His legs hurt. So he walked into the ocean. He soaked his feet and ankles for about 30 minutes.
When he walked out of the water, his ankles and feet were bleeding. They looked like they had thousands of tiny pinholes in them.
Kanizay went home and showed his parents. They quickly took him to the hospital.
"There was no stopping the bleeding," said his father, Jarrod.
Meat Trap
Health workers had no idea what could have bitten Kanizay. So his father went looking for answers.
Jarrod went back to the beach the next night. He took a pool net with him. He filled the net with raw meat. He stuck it in the water.
Soon, tiny bug-like creatures started eating the meat. Jarrod took a video. He also trapped some of the creatures.
"What is really clear is these little things really love meat," he said.
Flesh-Eating Fleas
Experts say the creatures are sea fleas. They are a kind of very small crustacean. That family of animals includes shrimp and crabs. Sea fleas eat rotting plants and animals.
"They'll swarm on a dead fish and eat it in next to no time," said Genefor Walker-Smith. She is an expert on sea life.
Walker-Smith thinks Kanizay might have stood in the middle of a feeding group of sea fleas. He might have had a cut on his leg that the sea fleas could smell.
She said people don't need to worry. Sea fleas aren't waiting in the water, ready to feed on people. They don't often bother people.
Kanizay has no plans to stay out of the water. He has lived near the beach all his life.
Doctors kept him in the hospital for a few days. His wounds will heal.
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Short film