--- title: Mysterious Sea Critters Attack Teen's Legs in Australia description: An Australian teenager found blood pouring from his feet and ankles due to multiple bites from mysterious sea critters. canonical: https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-07T12:53:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T04:59:58.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up This Teen Boy's Legs og:description: Scientists aren't sure exactly what caused the intense bleeding og:url: https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9449c3eed495f6e/6988d8a64ee262077130e796/sam-kanizay-austrailia-sea-creature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Sam Kanizay og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up This Teen Boy's Legs twitter:description: Scientists aren't sure exactly what caused the intense bleeding twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9449c3eed495f6e/6988d8a64ee262077130e796/sam-kanizay-austrailia-sea-creature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up This Teen Boy's Legs > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=12fac239-8657-4793-bcea-3352507b23e3&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Weekdays | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Written by TIME's health desk | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Health conscious and health connected. A broad health-conscious audience with a credible institutional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### TIME Health Matters: key statements * Health Matters is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Health Matters is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=12fac239-8657-4793-bcea-3352507b23e3&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/subscribe?i=12fac239-8657-4793-bcea-3352507b23e3&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's health newsletter? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health newsletter, written by TIME's health journalists. It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=12fac239-8657-4793-bcea-3352507b23e3&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up Australian Teen's Legs [Watch (HLS stream): Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up Australian Teen's Legs](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GiOPLwV1.m3u8) (1:51)  _Published 2017-08-07. An Australian teenager who dipped his legs in the water at a Melbourne beach Saturday night found blood pouring from his feet and ankles due to multiple bites from mysterious sea critters._ by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:59 AM UTCPublished: Aug 7, 2017 12:53 PM UTC An Australian teenager who dipped his legs in the water at a Melbourne beach Saturday night found blood pouring from his feet and ankles due to multiple bites from mysterious sea critters. by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:59 AM UTCPublished: Aug 7, 2017 12:53 PM UTC An [Australian](http://time.com/4887087/australia-charged-terrorism-airplane-plot/) teenager who dipped his legs in the water at a Melbourne beach Saturday night found blood pouring from his feet and ankles due to multiple bites from mysterious [sea critters](http://time.com/471/the-secret-life-of-bed-bugs-study-reveals-seasonal-trends-in-growth/). Sam Kanizay, 16, told Australian network [ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-07/brighton-sea-bugs-ocean-swim-teenager/8780138) that he decided to soak his feet in the water off Dendy Street Beach in Brighton after a soccer match. But when he stepped out a half-hour later, he noticed blood on his legs. “I walked out and saw what I thought was sand covering my calf and shook it off, and by the time I’d walked across the sand about 20 meters to put my thongs on, I looked down and noticed I had blood all over my ankles,” he told ABC. A leading theory is that the teenager became a meal for scavenging sea lice. But when sea lice, also known as marine isopods, chomp on humans, they usually leave tiny rashes, not blood. Sam was taken to the hospital after his father, Jarrod Kanizay, was unable to stop the bleeding. Doctors have struggled to explain what sort of bug caused the wounds, prompting Jarrod to take matters into his own hands. He went back to the beach with a meat-filled pool net and posted a video of his find: dozens of sea creatures munching away. Alistair Poore, associate professor at the University of New South Wales, told the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/world/australia/australian-teenager-sea-lice-attack.html) that the animals in Jarrod’s video were not sea lice, but amphipods, but added that they are not known to bite humans. “You can attract a lot of animals in the sea with raw meat,” Dr. Poore told the Times. “Even though it’s interesting, it doesn’t prove to me they were the ones that bit his legs.” ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I walked out of the water, saw what I thought was sand covering my ankles, and lower calf, so I just shook it off quite violently, and it came off. And by the I walked across the sand, about 20 meters, to put my thongs on, I looked down and noticed that I had blood all over my ankles. I didn't want to go inside the house with blood all over my feet, so I called Mom and Dad on my phone from out the front door and they came downstairs. I could tell he wasn't in pain. and he was calm, so we stayed calm, and we just thought, we better clean off this bit of blood, and then realized it wasn't washing away so made the call immediately that he needed to be in a hospital. There was a lot of blood, yeah. It kept bleeding for quite a while and it's still oozing out now, but yeah, it just wouldn't stop When we were hosing it down. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] And this particular one here is around about just over a centimeter by a centimeter. And so that gives an understanding as to how small these little creatures are. But this one here Perhaps this one, they've been working on that for only a few minutes, and they've devoured all the meat out of it. My initial reason to come out was to say, " I'd hate to see anyone else going this cause, yeah, it obviously, was a big shock ." There was a lot of blood, and who knows what's going to happen going forward, And yea, if we can prevent it for anyone else, that's the aim of us talking to people. So yeah he's not practicing this anymore, but [ UNKNOWN ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/"},"headline":"Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up This Teen Boy's Legs","datePublished":"2017-08-07T12:53:53.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T04:59:58.000Z","description":"Scientists aren't sure exactly what caused the intense bleeding","url":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/","keywords":["Injury","Australia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9449c3eed495f6e/6988d8a64ee262077130e796/sam-kanizay-austrailia-sea-creature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9449c3eed495f6e/6988d8a64ee262077130e796/sam-kanizay-austrailia-sea-creature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sam Kanizay","caption":"Sam Kanizay","creditText":"Australia Pool—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/injury/","name":"Injury"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/","name":"Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up This Teen Boy's Legs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Strange Sea Creatures Chewed Up Australian Teen's Legs","description":"An Australian teenager who dipped his legs in the water at a Melbourne beach Saturday night found blood pouring from his feet and ankles due to multiple bites from mysterious sea critters.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GiOPLwV1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-07T15:09:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GiOPLwV1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/","duration":"PT1M51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4889490/sea-lice-attack-australia-teen-legs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```