Sea slugs – one more risk

Signs with pictures of sea slugs are to go up on North Shore beaches in the wake of poisoning that has killed five dogs and made many others ill.

Beaches were closed to dogs and toddlers for much of August, but the warnings were eased last Friday by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

But North Shore City Council spoksewoman Kelly Gunn says this does not mean beaches have been given the all clear.

“We are being careful not to say the warnings have been lifted.”

Warning signs on beaches, notably at Narrow Neck and Cheltenham, look set to stay, but will be modified to feature pictures of sea slugs.

The potent tropical poison tetrodotoxin has been found in slugs on North Shore beaches and it is thought that the affected dogs had eaten dead slugs.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty about this event and the origin of the tetrodotoxin in the sea slugs is unknown,” says Dr Julia Peters, clinical director at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

“We also do not know whether sea slugs can clear tetrodotoxin from their systems, or if this is a one-off or a recurrent, localised or generalised event. This means that anyone going to the beach must be cautious.” says Dr Peters

Tetrodotoxin is extremely toxic to humans and even a very small dose can be fatal.

“While no humans have been affected to date, people have taken care to treat our warnings seriously and many have been staying away from the beaches,” says Dr Peters.

“The Auckland coastline is beautiful but is not hazard-free. For example some people have accidents at the beach and there are also hazards such as stingrays and sharks.

“There may now be a new risk on our coastline about which we do not yet have complete information,” she says.

For more information about health issues, call the regional health service on 623-4600.

The advice:

- Children and pets must to be closely supervised at all times and should not be allowed to eat things found on the beach.
- Parents need to be aware of where their children are swimming or playing and what they are handling.
- Anyone going to the beach should take care not to touch any sea life, dead or alive, found on the beach.

Sea slugs on any beach must be avoided.

- In general shellfish should not be taken from urban beaches because of the potential for contamination.

- © Fairfax NZ News