Unusually low tides have raised continued warnings about toxic sea slug  because they have been found higher on the beach than usual, and one family’s close call on the North Shore is a timely reminder of the dangers they pose

Willa Rebbeck is an inquisitive four-year-old who loves the beach, but this very nearly got her into trouble.

“She said, ‘Daddy, daddy, I’ve just touched a jellyfish,’ and I had a look around and immediately suspected that it was a sea slug,” says dad Hugh Rebbeck.

Having seen warning signs about the toxic sea slugs on the beach, it didn’t take long for Mr Rebbeck to realise his daughter could be in serious danger.

“I took a photograph of it with my mobile phone, and held my daughter’s hands behind her back and took her home immediately and washed her hands.”

Luckily, Willa didn’t ingest any of the poison. Even a small amount of it can be fatal to humans, and the same toxin was responsible for killing five dogs on Auckland beaches last year.

“Clearly we want people to enjoy the beach, but they need to be really careful about where their children are playing, where they’re swimming, and make sure they don’t touch anything that’s washed up on a beach,” says Dr Julia Peters.

The danger isn’t going to go away, and the public is being asked to respond exactly the same way the Rebbeck family did.

“They should mark the spot where they saw it. If they’ve got their mobile phone with them they might like to take a photo, and they need to ring the local authority and report it to the environmental health officer,” says Dr Peters.

Although all reported sightings of sea slugs this summer have been on the North Shore, health officials say extreme care should be taken on all beaches in the Hauraki Gulf.