Aussies shocked by 'clueless' woman's risky beach act

She said she came across hundreds of the "blue inflated things" during her walk but didn't know what they were.

An Aussie beachgoer has dodged a potentially painful encounter after picking up multiple bluebottles while going for a walk. 

The South Australian woman said she wasn't sure what the "blue inflated things" were, describing them as "plastic rubbish" but took to Facebook to confirm what they were.

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Image: Facebook

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"Any ID thoughts?"

She said she was travelling along the Great Ocean Road last week when she stopped by Massacre Bay in Victoria for a beach walk.

There, she spotted "hundreds" of the objects washed up on shore among a bunch of "kelp and seaweed."

"Any ID thoughts?" she asked a Facebook group, alongside a photo of her holding three of the venomous sea creatures in her palm. 

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"Crikey... wouldn't be picking those buggers up!"

Commenters immediately let her know that she had put herself in a very risky situation.

"Don't touch them!" one person said, perhaps a little too late.

Then this user offered the woman some general advice: "Just a tip, if you don't know what something is, don't pick it up".

"I can't believe people don't know what a bluebottle is," a third person said, bewildered.

Others were also in sheer disbelief. "Crikey... wouldn't be picking those buggers up!" someone else replied.

1 in 6 Aussies have been stung by bluebottles

Bluebottle stings can result in pain, welts, and sores on the skin that has been in contact with the tentacles.

Each year, between 10,000 and 30,000 bluebottle stings are reported along Australia's east coast.

They are the leading cause of marine stings in Australia, with one in six people reporting that they have been stung.

While bluebottle stings can be very painful, they are rarely life-threatening.

Originally published as Aussies shocked by 'clueless' woman's risky beach act