A beachgoer who joked about being attacked by a bloodthirsty carnivorous fish at one of Australia’s most well-known tourist destinations infuriated her neighborhood and attracted several armchair experts.
Lila Volker-Lin claimed she was attacked by a gang of piranhas while swimming at Suffolk Dog Beach about 10 p.m. on Tuesday when she posted a picture of a cut on her hand on the Byron Bay Community Board Facebook page on Friday.
She cautioned, “On Tuesday night after it had been raining, my companion and I went for a late-night swim directly out front of the Jarman St entrance at 10pm. As soon as our bodies were submerged, we were bitten by small critters that bit us all over.
We can only surmise that these were piranhas since it was too dark to discern their genuine shape. Maybe a strong river or rain brought them in? This is a picture of one of the bites or cuts.
The community organization, which has more than 55,000 members, was then admonished by Ms. Volker-Lin to “be cautious.”
The article soon attracted hundreds of comments, many of which took the time to inform Ms Volker-Lin of the reasons why a South American fish, the piranha, could not have carried out the assault.
While the article seemed to be true, Ms. Volker-Lin later admitted to Daily Mail Australia in a joking remark that she had “never taken the drug “methamphetamine.”
Since joining the Facebook group in 2019, Ms. Volker-Lin has posted often about local fundraising events and misplaced items.
None of her messages, however, received as much attention as the piranha warning did.
You don’t really believe that piranhas attacked you in Byron, are you? One commenter commented, obviously not getting the humor.
There are really creatures up there that are scarier than Native American fish, added a second. “If you believe a freshwater fish like [a piranha] is truly living in Australia, please do not visit the NT.”
Nothing can rescue Byron now, for the love of God. Thank God I got out,’ a third, irate former resident remarked.
Yet, many others understood the humor and joined Ms. Volker-Lin in their laughter.
“Yeah, there are a lot of piranhas here. One commenter remarked, “Please warn everyone to stop coming here and stay away from the beaches since they adore visitors.”
It is well known in this area that piranha surface at night from the depths of the ocean. Another user jokingly said, “You’re fortunate to be alive.”
The bite is unmistakably that of the Loch Ness monster. Very fortunate to have survived,’ wrote a third.
Those seem to be scratch marks left by the koalas that often swim there after dusk. They usually only use their nails to claw up eucalyptus trees, but they could have mistaken you for a log that was passing by. You’ll get over it eventually, said a fourth.
Freshwater fish called piranhas, which are endemic to South American waters, may be carnivorous, omnivore, or even vegetarian.
The red-bellied piranha, however, is the most notorious piranha and is a vicious predator that hunts in groups and is noted for leaving behind half-eaten corpses after a feeding frenzy.
Contrary to common opinion, red-bellied piranhas hardly seldom hunt creatures that are alive and considerably prefer to hunt species that have previously passed away.
In South American jungles, red-bellied piranhas seldom attack people, but when they do, it’s generally when food supplies are starting to run low.
Even so, there have only ever been a handful of reported piranha fatalities in history, and even then, the reports are often simply of minor bites to the hand or foot.
»Byron Bay’s Suffolk Dog Beach piranha warning goes viral«
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