Thousands of piranhas invade popular Brazilian tourist beach

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Thousands of flesh-eating piranhas have infested a beach popular with tourists in western Brazil and have bitten at least 15 unwary swimmers.

Officials in the city of Caceres in Mato Grosso state say this is the first time they have had a problem with piranhas at the Daveron beach on the Paraguay river, where the aggressive fish began schooling about two weeks ago.

"People have got to be very careful. If they're bitten, they've got to get out of the water rapidly and not allow the blood to spread," firefighter Raul Castro de Oliveira told Globo TV's G1 website yesterday.

Elson de Campos Pinto, 22, was bitten on Sunday.

"I took a dip in the river and when I stood up, I felt pain in my foot," Pinto told G1.

"I saw that I had lost the tip of my toe. I took off running out of the river, afraid that I would be further attacked because of the blood. I'm not going back in for a long time."

Anyone up for a dip?

While I live somewhere where it gets damn cold out and I absolutely hate the cold, the risk of going swimming and eaten by piranha's is much worse than than the frigid temperatures.

I couldn't imagine going for a dip and getting my toe eaten off.

Sometimes I panic in lakes because I feel a cold spot and think of Nessy.

Anyway, this is an interesting story and weird to hear that piranha's are migrating places that they haven't been before.

Any thoughts?

Pred...

Piranhas only become aggressive towards humans when they are land locked and do not have access to a food source. These piranhas would more then likely not bother humans.

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp

Piranhas only become aggressive towards humans when they are land locked and do not have access to a food source. These piranhas would more then likely not bother humans.

Tell that to the guy with 9 toes.

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp

Piranhas only become aggressive towards humans when they are land locked and do not have access to a food source. These piranhas would more then likely not bother humans.

I would say an aggressive behavior is eating a guys toe, and once those guys smell blood they swarm. If they bit once they will bite again.

Pred...

Hmm doesn't this remind you of the movie Mega Piranha.

i didnt think piranhas were prone to biting at humans,

also i thought it was to do with multiple tiny bites froma swarm that usually stripped meat like as in very rarley to they out and out attack somthing its more lots and lots of them taking a little bite..

i suppose it depends on how big the actual swarm is though, maybe there natural food sources have been shrinking.. or wiped out if it was a big enough swarm i suppose

Do they fly?

If you are not familiar with the 80s movie that joke will pass you by.

Originally posted by predator0187
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Sometimes I panic in lakes because I feel a cold spot and think of Nessy.

Funny you should say that, I am the same exact way, and I fancy myself a tough guy.. If I have anything touch me in a murky lake or feel a really cold spot I start kicking hard and fast. Yes piranha are on my list of what ifs..

When i swim in the ocean I do not like to turn my back on the open water side. I always swim with my back to the shore..lol

s&F

reply to post by predator0187


thanks for the heads up ,, i love these fish ...

tho its sad about the guy with the now 9 toes ... i do know a lot of peeps who need to go swimming with this kind of fishes .......

i think this almost qualifies for a thread containing a correlation with pirahna 3d and hollywood predictions...lol hope those suckers stay in south america and the hell away from australia,we already have enough creatures around here in our water thats bites....

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp

Piranhas only become aggressive towards humans when they are land locked and do not have access to a food source. These piranhas would more then likely not bother humans.

Spoken with the same conviction as the Mayor of Amity Island (JAWS)

Woody

reply to post by WakeUpRiseUp


they also bite if you are too close to their nest

??
infested a beach? piranha are fresh water fish aren't they?
the 'beach' must have been inland i'm assuming?

edit: ok, It lies on the Paraguai River.

There are also killer amoeba waiting to claim swimmers in bodies of fresh water. I will only swim in a pool and only a few times a year and not any deeper than I am tall. I wish my daughter would agree to do the same but her dad loves the ocean. I hate the water because it's the one place I'm not very confident of my place in the food chain!

you know me and my wife took the kids swimming all the time in the summer here in fl .
we lived out in the country so it was lakes and ponds the kids went swimming in .
Now you may think pirina are bad but honestly they are nice fish compared to a pond over full of BRIM .
Yes you hear it right fl brim can get up to 10 inches long and will nibble nibble at toes fingers and well any thing else they can reach .
It starts out as a small swirl in teh water next thing you know you have a two year old running from the water screaming at the top of his lungs as the sigren goes off in town warning of the fish attack .Chaos and panic run rampet .
Opps sorry that was jaws well anyway they do attack fingers nibble toes

Oh my God! this brought me back..one time I was vacationing with my family at sea world and we had come to the tank where they kept these devilish fish and I was looking at them and had my hand at the glass. Then I got distracted talking but when I looked back I could of sworn the piranha was closer? I looked away and looked back really quick and saw it stop from moving closer! omg I couldn't believe it! so cleaver they are, of course I thought it was hilarious...I only thought that because he or she was behind a glass lol. Oh gosh I feel for these people, these fish are worse then sharks. They're like water fleas.